Kim Infected
by DorothyNightingale
Summary: Mrs. and Mr. Banks weren't expecting a letter to arrive on their youngest daughter's 11th birthday. The nurse at St. Mungo's told them all of their children would be squibs, but when Kim is accepted into Hogwarts a new unexpected chapter unfolds. To Kim it seems like this will be the best year of her life until something terrible happens, something she has to hide from everyone.
1. An Unexpected Birthday Present

Chapter One: An Unexpected Birthday Present

The Banks family weren't expecting a letter to arrive on their youngest daughter's birthday. Ms. and Mr. Banks had given up all hope years ago after visiting St. Mungo's and discovering that they were unable to have a child with magical abilities. They had come home from the hospital with a heavy heart and decided that rather than not having children, they would banish magic from their household all together so that their children could grow up oblivious from the world they couldn't take part in. The four Banks children Emily, John, Corbin and Kim wouldn't grow up with magic but at least they would never know they were squibs, muggles born from wizards and witches. Unfortunately, that all changed the day Ms. Banks spotted a snowy white owl fly past her window one late afternoon.

"Honey are you alright?" asked Mr. Banks.

Ms. Banks turned back to her husband, the match in her hand still burning.

"It's nothing," she said, almost to herself and turned to begin lighting the candles on the bright blue birthday cake.

Kim, her youngest daughter was smiling at the head of the table with a paper crown wrapped around her head. Her long blonde hair was pulled into a fishtail and her misty eyes glittered in the candle light. It was her eleventh birthday, the last eleventh birthday that would ever pass through the house and Ms. Banks was determined to make it as mundane as possible.

"Happy birthday to you," the family began to sing.

Corbin tried to lick the frosting while no one was looking but Emily, the eldest kicked him from underneath the table. John tried to mess with the lyrics and instead of singing Kim's name he sung her dreaded nickname which was 'Fishy Sticks'. Kim smiled all the way though which made Ms. Banks happy. She wasn't going to let one rouge owl ruin her daughter's most important day of the year.

Just as Kim blew out the candles Ms. Banks heard the distinct sound of a letter being dropped through the mail slot of the door. Her senses went on red alert. Just because she'd seen an owl fly up to her porch and they'd received mail on a Sunday didn't mean what she thought it meant. If anything it could be one of her old school friends who was still trying to make contact. After Emily had been born the Banks had tried their best to sever all ties between them and the wizarding world and that meant saying goodbye to all of their friends. They'd made new ones of course and now could hardly care less about magic, but every so often they'd get an owl or two.

"Mom can I have two slices?" said Corbin, his mouth already covered in blue frosting.

"If that's alright with your sister," she said wearily.

Ms. Banks couldn't take the tension anymore. She went into the next room and sure enough there was a letter sealed with red wax and the Hogwarts seal, sitting on the ground. Her heart nearly stopped in it's tracks. This couldn't be happening, Kim was a squib, there was no doubt about it. The nurse at St. Mungo's had confirmed it seventeen years ago just before Emily was born. All of Ms. Banks children would turn out to be Squibs, but here was the letter. The very same letter that had arrived on her eleventh birthday was now sitting on her foyer floor on her daughter's. Shakily, Ms. Banks scooped up the letter and read the address.

 _Miss K. Banks_

 _1313 Little Anne Dr._

 _Starry Gaze. London_

Kim's mother stared at the address, reading and rereading it several times before deciding it was legit. She was tempted to break the seal and read the scrawling print of Professor McGonagall again, if she was still the deputy headmistress, but resisted the urge and tucked the letter into her a cubby near the mantle where none of the children were sure to look. When Ms. Banks entered the kitchen again all of her children were eating the cake and none of them had time to look up as she exchanged a worried expression with her husband. Ms. Banks would have to wait a while if she wanted to talk to him alone.

"What do you mean a letter?" Mr. Banks exclaimed once the children had all left to watch the tele.

Ms. Banks gave him a look. "The letter," she said. "I saw an owl Harold, that's when I knew she was one of them."

"One of us," her husband reminded her. "Just because we act like muggles doesn't mean we're one of them."

Ms. Banks chewed her lip. She didn't like when her husband referred to the two of them as something other than average. She'd embraced normalicy a long time ago and didn't like the feeling that she didn't belong.

"But how," she said, desperate to change the subject. "She can't go to Hogwarts, she's a squib."

"Apparently we were wrong," said Mr. Banks. "Helga this shouldn't be a cause for stress this should be a celebration. Our daughter is a witch. We need to tell her about us and the other world as soon as possible."  
Ms. Banks's temper flared. "No Harold. She can't know, none of our children can know about what's out there. It hasn't been that long since Harry Potter defeated You Know Who, the wizarding world is still dangerous. I don't want my child to be raised in an environment like that."

Mr. Banks sighed and wiped sweat from where he was balding on the top of his head. "Sweetheart, it's been seventeen years since the Battle of Hogwarts. I think the wizarding world is safe enough."

"You wanted this didn't you," Ms. Banks said, throwing her arms up in the air. "You'll finally get to use magic again. You know I saw you using magic last night to do the dishes. Just think if the children had seen that, they'd be scared to death. Kim may be a witch but her brothers and sister arn't magical at all so what are we suppose to do? Make one child feel special and the other's feel like garbage? When I was in school it was an embarrassment to have a squib in the family, none the less three. What if the other kids tease her?"

"Honey it's the 21st century," Mr. Banks argued. "Kids these days don't care if you're pureblood, muggle born or even half blood."

Ms. Banks took a deep breath and tried to calm the knot that was twisting itself in her stomach. "Fine then, if that's the case then we don't tell her that we were wizards," she said simply. "She'll go to school thinking she's muggle born."

Mr. Banks looked shocked. "How are we suppose to guide her through school? Who's going to take her school supply shopping? School starts in two months."

Ms. Banks wrapped her fingers loudly on the kitchen counter and let out a reluctant sigh. "I have an idea," she said. "You remember my brother Donovan right?"


	2. The Man in the Fireplace

Chapter Two: The Man in the Fireplace

Kim awoke from her sugar crash late Monday morning to find everyone still asleep in bed, even her parents which was surprising. She poured herself a bowl of cereal on the counter and then found sitting on her placemat, a letter with her name on it. In was written in curious font, almost like the words themselves were floating off the page. She assumed it must be from her grandparents since she hadn't heard from them in a while and had been secretly hoping for a little birthday cash like her brothers and sister had received. Kim flipped the envelope over and broke the red wax seal. Two pieces of parchment were sitting inside and Kim pulled them out, reading the shorter one first.

 _Dear Miss Banks,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find an enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins September 1st. We await your owl no later than July 31st._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Hecate Hayes_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

Kim stared at the letter for a long while before she let it sink in. Was this some kind of joke? Kim was going to middle school in the fall, the same middle school her siblings attended. What was this about going to a school for witches and wizards, it all made no sense. Attached in another envelope was a list of school supplies but all the material sounded fake like cauldrons and potions supplies. Kim couldn't believe what she was reading. Casting aside the letter as a joke she began to eat her cereal in the peace and quiet of the household. Peaceful until a head appeared in the fireplace that is.

Kim was almost finished with her breakfast when she heard someone calling her name from the other room. Confused, she got up and walked in to see an actual face formed in the fireplace. Kim screamed, which was the immediate thing to do but no one came running. Instead the head put a finger to its lips and told her to be quiet. The face was clearer now and Kim could make out a clean shaven face and intelligent blue eyes.

"Stop screaming now," said the young man in the fire. "It's alright, I'm only here to help."

"How are you there?" Kim exclaimed.

The man looked decapitated as well aflame yet he seemed perfectly fine.

"I'm going to apparate in your living room in a second Kim so we can talk face to face, but I wanted to let you know I was coming by first so I didn't startle you. See I don't quite know how to you that telebox of yours so I thought this way was most suitable," said the gentleman in the fireplace.

Most suitable, thought Kim. A man's face had just appeared in a fire that hadn't even been lit before. That was it, Kim was either completely mad or she needed to call the police.

Just then there was a pop and the man whose face she'd seen in the fire only seconds ago was now standing next to her, not just a head now but with an actual body. He was dressed in funny clothes that looked like blue robes monks might wear or someone who was pretending to be a wizard.

"Hello there Kim," said the man. "I'm Donovan, it's nice to meet you."

Donovan outstretched his hand but Kim didn't meet it. Instead she backed away as quickly as possible until she hit a wall. Then she screamed again.

"Really Miss, you must stop screaming," said the man. "My sleeping charm will wear off soon and you don't want your brothers and sisters to see me."

"Sleeping charm?" Kim exclaimed.

This man was insane, she was insane. She'd just seen a man appear in the fireplace and then in her parlor and yet all she could do about it was scream. Why weren't her parents waking up already? Her dad had promised he'd always protect her, but where was he when she really needed him?

The man reached into his robes and pulled out a long wooden stick, about the size of her father's shoe. It was made of a very pale, birchwood and a leather cord was wrapped around the base like a grip. First the wizard robe, now this, Kim was getting a very sick feeling in her stomach.

"You see this, Kim?" Donovan said, waving the stick in the air. "It's called a wand."

Kim inched closer to the phone. She didn't believe what she was hearing.

"I can perform real magic with it see." Donovan raised the wand, muttered something and suddenly the remote to the tele was hovering three feet off the ground. He waved his wand again and it began to sail around the room, almost knocking over the pictures on the wall.

Kim couldn't believe her eyes. A man was performing magic in her living room. Suddenly reaching for the phone seemed like a much less appealing option. Instead she slid off the wall and inched a little closer to Donovan.

"I'm a wizard," Donovan explained, after setting the remote back on the couch. "And you are a witch."

"I'm a what?" said Kim, her eyes still fixed on the remote like it was going to float off again.

"A witch," said Donovan, repeating himself. "You just turned eleven didn't you?"

Kim nodded.

"Well then didn't you read your letter?" he asked. "When a witch or wizard turns eleven they're accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It's as simple as that. You'll learn how to perform magic instead of cramming your head with silly things like mathematics and muggle history."

Kim resisted the tug that was a smile trying to spread itself across her face. She still wasn't completely convinced of anything yet.

"What are muggles, and why didn't the rest of my family go to this school?" she asked.

"Muggles are what we magical folk call people who cannot perform magic. They can't ever even know we exist," Donovan explained. "It's use to be rare but is very common these days that sometimes people like you are born from two people that were not witches or wizards and you're what they called muggle born. It just means that everyone else in your family do not obtain any magical abilities and you do."

"Does that mean I can't tell them I'm a witch," she asked, the grin fading from her face.

Donovan tapped his nose. "Exactly."

Kim wondered how on earth she would keep something like magic a secret. Maybe she would only tell Emily or Corbin when she wanted them to stop teasing her but if Donovan could make a remote control whiz around then doing chores with magic would be a breeze. Her heart was beating very violently now but the hundreds of questions continued to surface to the top of her head.

"When will I get a wand like yours?" she asked.

"How about right now?" Donovan said, "After all, I came to take you school supplies shopping."

"You did?" said Kim. "How will we find a wand in London?"

Donovan grinned. "You'd be surprised how much muggles ignore. Grab your hogwarts letter and I'll show you."

Donovan stretched out his hand and this time Kim took it. Then in a flash, the pair of them were gone.


	3. Diagon Alley

Chapter Three: Diagon Alley

Kim soon realized she didn't like traveling by magic. The moment her feet hit solid ground she felt sick and wanted to keel over. She was so caught up with the fact that she had traveled by magic that it wasn't until a good thirty seconds later that she actually looked up and looked around the place the man had brought her. She was in some sort of cafe, there were tables and a bar to order food. The air smelled musty and the people sitting at the tables were all dressed in foreign robes like what Donovan was wearing.

"Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron," said Donovan.

The Leaky Cauldron was a cafe that was meant only for wizards and witches. Apparently muggles would just walk right by the place and not be able to see it. Being in the cafe gave Kim an odd feeling she didn't recognize and for some reason Kim felt right at home with the other magical folk even though she'd never seen more curious looking people in her entire life. She was just about to ask Donovan how she was suppose to buy a wand here when he lead her out the back door of the shop.

"Watch this," he said.

Kim was confused, they were staring at a brick wall, there was nothing else out here besides a dumpster and even that looked deserted. Then Donovan tapped one of the bricks and the wall actually started to collapse outwards. She thought the wall was going to completely disappear but it stopped when the bricks made the shape of an archway. Kim peered through and her heart nearly came to a hammering halt. There was an entire world tucked away behind a brick wall that she'd never even dreamed about.

"Ladies first," Donovan said and Kim stepped through the archway.

The cobblestone streets were lined with shops bursting with the most curious and exciting objects Kim had ever seen. There were cauldrons and bowls and strange pastries. Creatures Kim had never imaged were lined up in window displays. She passed a joke shop full of crazy inventions, a robe shop where she would buy her school robes and finally one of the biggest stores, a wand shop called Ollivander's.

A little bell tinkled when Kim and Donovan entered the shop. Kim immediately took in the dozens and dozens of shelves all crammed with thin boxes and the musky smell of wood chips. A lady was sitting behind a desk busy admiring a wand she'd been working on and looked up when she saw the man and the girl enter her shop. Kim could hardly stand still, it was almost as if she could feel the power resonating from all of the wands and it was making her jumpy. That, or she couldn't wait to posses magic of her own.

"Hello there," said the lady at the desk. She had silvery eyes and greying brown hair. "Are you going to be a first year miss?"

Kim looked at Donovan and he nodded.

"Yes it's her first year at Hogwarts. She's come here looking for her first wand," he said.

The lady smiled. "Oh that's wonderful. So many new wizards walking around the street. You know when my dear friend, the real Ollivander use to run this shop he could tell you your whole life story just by a single look. He was so good with faces, even could remember the parents, if they had any that were wizards."

"My parents are muggles," said Kim.

The lady laughed. "Well isn't that dear. Only found out today that you were a witch I'm guessing."

Kim nodded obediently and the lady laughed merrily again.

"Let's have you try out some wands then," she said.

Kim sat down on a bench and watched the woman hustle around the shop for a while, pulling out boxes and then putting them back in their place. Finally she returned with three wands, each in a thin blue box with a silver 'O' on the side.

"Eleven inch holly with dragon heartstring, very flexible," she said and handed Kim the wand.

Kim gripped it and suddenly felt very powerful with it in her hand. She waved it around until she heard a crash and looked around to see a stack of wands had fallen over. Normally she felt bad about knocking something over but she couldn't believe she had made that happen all by herself.

"Maybe not that one dear," said the wandmaker and took the wand back from Kim. "Try this."

Again, Kim wasn't met with success and neither was the next one. Finally six wands later Kim was handed a final box.

"13 inch Hawthorn, unicorn hair, supple," the wandmaker said and delicately handed her the wand.

It had a thin, grip that felt even and balanced in her hand. Immediately Kim felt the wand begin to pulse almost like a heartbeat and the butterscotch wood began to glow bright gold. This was the one, Kim felt it. As the wandmaker began to box it away she gave her a few words of advice.

"The hawthorn wand is special," she said, "because it's like two sides of a coin. One one side it's excellent for healing and one the other it's made for dueling and sending hexes. People say it symbolizes inner conflict, others say it's a balance between good and evil."

Kim held the box tightly in her grip, good for healing and bad for curses. She didn't see how healing was going to help her if she wanted to be the greatest witch of her age, which she had decided was what must happen. There was so much she wanted to do in this new world, it was almost overwhelming. As soon as she and Donovan were outside again she practically dragged him to Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions.

"What house are you in sweetie?" asked a store clerk as Kim was looking through some of the robes.

"First year," said Donovan before Kim could come up with a reply.

"Oh how lovely," said the clerk. "Why don't you hop up over here so we can get you fitted for your school robes."

Kim stepped onto a platform and the store clerk started to take her measurements.

"What kind of houses to they have at Hogwarts?" Kim asked curiously.

A twinkle caught the store clerk's eye. "Muggle born I assume," she said as she wrapped the measuring tape around Kim's waist. "You'll love it there. There are four houses at Hogwarts, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

"Does it matter which one I'm put in?" Kim asked.

"To some people," said the store clerk. "They each value different things but don't worry, they never put you in the wrong house. When I was a student there I was a Gryffindor. I was almost in the same year as Harry Potter who was also a Gryffindor."

"Who's Harry Potter?" asked Kim, stepping down from the platform.

The store clerk laughed. "I forgot you wouldn't know who that was. About 17 years ago there was a horrible man by the name of Lord Voldemort."

The name made a shiver run down Kim's spine but she didn't know why.

"This wizard wanted to kill everyone who wasn't a pureblood like him, someone with two wizard parents. Harry Potter was the one who finally stopped him and became one of the biggest heros in wizard history."

Seventeen years ago there had been someone who wanted to kill everyone like her, someone who had killed people just because of who their parents where? Suddenly the wizarding world didn't seem as wonderful as she'd been picturing it. Maybe she needed to take a step back from things for a bit. She'd been imagining magic only being used for good, but if bad people got their hands on it, there's no telling what they would do.

Kim realized she had forgotten to pay for her wand at Ollivanders and that Donovan must have payed for her. Holding her new robes in her hand, she clumsily she dug into her purse to come up with about six pounds. The store clerk laughed and Donovan came to the rescue.

"I haven't taught you about wizard money yet," he said and produced a coin purse from his robes. "This is called a galleon." He showed her a big gold coin. "About 14 of these will pay for your school robes."

"You don't have to buy things for me," said Kim, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Don't worry," Donovan said. "It's not even my money. The school pays for new students school supplies."

Something about the way he said that made Kim think he was lying, but what else could it be. It wasn't like a complete stranger she'd only met this morning was going to pay for everything she wanted. As Kim left the shop she saw the store clerk assisting more first years and things were finally starting to settle in her brain. Those kids would be going to the same school as her in a couple of months and she didn't feel prepared to meet people who had grown up around magic. Hogwarts was starting to seem like a much scarier place.


	4. A Long Wait

Chapter Four: A Long Wait

Kim and Donovan were almost done shopping. They had gotten her robes, a wand, trunk, cauldron, telescope, phials, scales, and a whole lot of books. She didn't see what more they would need seeing as they'd checked everything on the list until they passed the pet shop.

"Donovan can I take a pet to school with me?" Kim asked.

"You certainly can," said Donovan. "Most people get an owl because they can take messages to other wizards as well as deliver your mail while you're at school."

"Then I'll get an owl," Kim decided.

Another little bell went off as Kim and Donovan entered the pet shop. It was full of interesting pets like cats and rabbits, mice and toads. In the back was a giant cage filled with different types of birds. Kim took her time looking at each of the owls before deciding on a Brown Owl she called Bellona. Bellona cooed gingerly but snapped at Kim when she tried to pet her through the cage. Kim scanned her equipment, some of which she was holding, the rest was in Donovan's hands.

"Ready to head back?" he asked.

"How can I ever go back to the muggles," Kim said. "I don't think I'll be able to bare two months without magic, plus how will I explain all this stuff and where I've been all morning?"

It was true, her family would throw a hissy fit when she got back. There was no way she'd be able to come up with an acceptable excuse.

"Give me the stuff to hold on to until September 1st," said Donovan. "And don't worry about your family. They won't even remember you were gone."

"You have a spell for that?" Kim gasped.

"There's a spell for everything Kim," Donovan grinned, and in a flash the pair had disappeared.

The first week after Kim's visit to Diagon Alley was painfully slow but the weeks after that tended to go by faster if she didn't think about Hogwarts or magic. She wished she'd asked to keep her wand so that she could practice waving it around a little bit and seeing what happened. Oddly though it was one month before school and her parents still hadn't ordered her a uniform to match her brother Corbin's. That was because she soon realized they'd found the letter, her Hogwarts letter. One day after dinner they cornered her about it.

"Honey we found out why you've been acting so excited for school to start," said Mrs. Banks in a motherly tone.

Kim froze, her senses going on red alert.

"Yes we found your acceptance letter to that boarding you applied to but never heard back from," said Mr. Banks looking pleased.

Kim was utterly confused until her dad produced the Hogwarts letter she'd so carelessly left out one day. She had no idea what they were on about but she went with it.

"Yes... I uh, remember that," she said, trying to sound convincing.

"Well we want you to know we're very proud of you and that we've decided to let you attend this school in the fall," said Kim's mother with a smile.

"Really?" Kim exclaimed, in a mock tone. "Thanks Mom and Dad!"  
Kim gave them both hugs and went back to her room, so relieved that she wouldn't have to sneak out on September 1st in order to get there. Under the covers, she was in the middle of reading a book when there was a rap on her window. Kim looked up to see an owl perched on her window sill and ignored it for a second before doing a double take and recognizing Bellona. Delightedly she ran to the window sill and threw it open. Her owl hopped inside and deposited an envelope in her hands. Quickly, Kim tore it open.

 _Dear Kim,_

 _I wanted to offer to stop by and collect you on September 1st so I can bring you to your train. You will be boarding the Hogwarts Express at 11 o'clock via Platform 9 3/4s. I have attached your ticket below._

 _Sincerely your friend,_

 _D.U._

D. U well that was surely Donovan, but Platform 9 3/4s, Kim thought widely. There was

no way there was such a thing but sure enough attached was a train ticket with that very number. Kim scrambled for a piece of paper to send a reply explaining that she wouldn't need him to pick her up because her parents were going to drive her to the train station thinking she was off to some muggle boarding school. Then she rolled the message up and tied it to Bellona.

"Bye," Kim whispered to the owl. "Hope I see you soon."

It was a long time before Kim saw her owl again, about a month. Strangely her parents hadn't insisted on buying her anything for the school year so they drove her to King's Cross Station practically empty handed. If Kim didn't think that was strange they insisted on dropping her off without going in to say goodbye. So Kim, still utterly confused wandered into the train station and found platform 9 and platform 10 but nothing labelled platform 9 and 3/4s.

"Kim," called a familiar voice.

Kim was relieved to see Donovan waiting for her near the end of a terminal and thankfully he had all of her stuff with him.

"Thank you Donovan," said Kim and she gave him a hug.

"Happy to be back among your people?" he asked, grinning. "Here let me show you how to get on the platform."

Kim watched in shock as Donovan directed her to the blank wall in between platforms 9 and 10. Another kid pushing a cart came up behind her and when Kim didn't move she pushed ahead and ran straight at the wall. Only the girl didn't crash like Kim had expected her to, the girl just kept running and almost melted into the wall.

"I don't know if I can do that," Kim said nervously.

"It's easy," said Donovan. "Just run straight forward, you can shut your eyes if you want. Then you'll be there."

Kim took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Then she pushed her cart straight ahead and just as she thought she was going to crash the sounds around her changed. Kim opened her eyes and found herself on a new platform surrounded by people in funny robes again. There were kids everywhere, some in muggle clothes, others not, all saying goodbye to their family and boarding a magnificent jet black train. Donovan then appeared right behind her.

"All aboard the Hogwarts express," he said.

Kim and Donovan pushed through the crowd and pulled themselves and Kim's trunks aboard the crowded train. The adrenaline in the air was almost making Kim nauseous. The whole idea of being on a train full of magical people was too fantastical.

"I'll see you later than Kim," Donovan said, as soon as he'd handed her Bellona's cage.

"Wait are you riding the train too?" asked Kim.

Donovan raised his eyebrows. "Oh didn't I tell you? I'm a professor as well."

It was hard for Kim at first to get past all the older kids that were making a crowd in the hallway but finally, several cars later she found an empty cabin and sat near the window. Down below she could watch all the other children, some of them didn't want to say goodbye to their parents but most of them looked more than pleased to board the train. One corner of the platform was getting a lot more attention than the others and Kim craned to see what was going on. It looked like there was a man with messy black hair and glasses standing with three children and a woman with flaming red hair who must be his wife. There were dozens of people trying to talk to him and his children but Kim couldn't figure out why. It looked like just a normal family to her.

Kim sat in the empty cabin for a long time as noisy kids passed by, giving no notice to her at all or else peering in and deciding to find a different cabin. Finally the cabin door opened and a noisy bunch of kids entered. All of them seemed to be talking to the same boy Kim had seen being swarmed down below. He had messy brown hair, glasses and seemed to be trying to talk to about five people at the same time.

"Oh," said one of the girls when she saw Kim. The other first years seemed to have entered the cabin thinking it was empty.

"Nah it's cool she can stay," said the popular boy.

Weather Kim wanted to stay or not she was soon crammed up against the window as the the three girls and sat next to her the three boys sat across from them.

"Nice owl," the popular boy said and it took Kim a moment to realize he was talking to her. "I'm James by the way, James Potter."

"I'm Kim," said Kim. "This is Bellona," she said referring to her owl.

Potter, Kim knew she had heard that name before. Her mind flashbacked to when she'd bought her wizarding robes in Madam Malkin's. The store clerk had been talking about that awful man who killed muggle borns and she'd mentioned the name of the guy who'd stopped him 17 years ago. Harry Potter. Could this boy be related to him? It would make sense because of all the attention he was getting from the other first years. The son of a famous wizard coming to Hogwarts, that was sure to start a buzz.

Just then the train began to move and Kim watched as the people on the platform began to move further away. The train picked up speed and soon she was on her way to Hogwarts.


	5. The Hogwarts Express

Chapter Five: The Hogwarts Express

Kim was starting to feel claustrophobic. In just an hour of being aboard the Hogwarts Express, five more people had joined them in her cabin, all of them wanting only to talk to James. Finally Kim had had enough. She got up and managed to slip out of the carriage without anyone even noticing her departure. Bellona squawked loudly in the hall and Kim rushed to quiet her down. People in the other carriages were starting to take notice.

It soon dawned on Kim that there were no more empty compartments and she'd have to be brave enough to talk to other wizards. Giving up, she found the least crowded cabin with only a first year boy and girl. Bravely she pulled the glass door open and the two other kids looked up.

"Hello," Kim said awkwardly. "Do you mind if I sit?"

The girl was fairly pretty and had swooping dark brown hair and glittering blue eyes. She smiled at Kim and invited her in the cabin.

"What happened?" said the boy jokingly. "Did you get kicked out of your other cabin?"

The boy had sandy blonde hair and watery blue eyes but he had the half smile of someone who was sarcastic all the time.

"Something like that," Kim said. "Some kid named James Potter came and sat in my cabin and then everyone else started sitting with us too."

The girl's eyes got big. "James Potter sat in your cabin," she exclaimed. "He's like super famous!"

"Who's James Potter?" asked the boy. "Some kind of rockstar?"

Kim was relieved she wasn't the only one asking this question.

"No silly," said the girl. "He's Harry Potter's son. The Harry Potter I was telling you about. He practically saved the world and now everyone's buzzing because his eldest son is finally coming to Hogwarts."

"Wait so he didn't do anything to get himself famous, he's just someone famous guy's kid and suddenly is the most popular kid in school?" said the boy.

The girl shook her head, obviously done trying to explain things to her friend.

"I'm Coco by the way," she said. "This is Edmund. We're both first years. I'm pureblood, he's muggle born but we're neighbors so we've known eachother for a long time. I've been trying to teach him all the things he would have learned if he was pureblood."

"I'm Kim," said Kim. "Also muggle born and a first year."

Kim was glad there was another muggleborn on board but was a little jealous he'd still grown up knowing there was a magical world. This new life as exciting as it was was starting to come at her too fast, like she was on a rollercoaster in the dark.

"Well there's one house you two won't have to worry about getting into," said Coco.

"What's that?" asked Kim.

"Slytherin," she said. "Nowadays they'll take half bloods if they need to but they use to only take purebloods. No dark wizard has ever come out of any other house but Slytherin. That wizard who hated muggle borns and was killed by Harry Potter? A Slytherin. I heard they're all just pure evil. It's lucky you two won't be put in that house."

"What house were your parents in?" Kim asked Coco.

"My dad was in Gryffindor but my mum went to Beauxbaton Academy in France. It's a school just for witches," Coco explained. "I was also accepted there since I was born in France but I chose Hogwarts instead."

Another wizard academy, Kim hadn't realized there was one but it made sense. Gryffindor house seemed like a popular choice and it seemed to have some pretty great wizards come out of it if the famous Harry Potter was a Gryffindor. Just then there was a tap on the door and the three kids looked up to see a plump woman with grey hair pushing a cart full of candy, only the candy wasn't familiar to Kim.

"Oh yes chocolate frogs," Coco said, leaping up from her seat.

"What are chocolate frogs?" Kim asked.

Coco returned with more than a few bright blue boxes.

"Here you've got to try one," Coco said, handing her and Edmund each a little box.

Kim looked at the yellow embroidered five sided container. It was obviously some type of candy but Kim was a little apprehensive to open it. As soon as she did though something flew out of it and landed next to her. It was a little dark chocolate frog but it was moving. Kim screamed and Coco began to laugh.

"You can't let it out of the box!" she giggled.

Kim's chocolate frog leaped away to safety before she could eat it and she slumped down in her seat in dismay.

"Uh, I don't think I can eat this around Sherbert," Edmund said and Kim realized that there was a green toad tucked under Edmund's seat.

Coco laughed. "I forgot about him, sorry Sherbert," she said and rattled her fingers playfully on the bars of his cage. "Hey Kim, have you met Socrates?"

Coco held up another owl in a cage. This one was obviously a barn owl, she'd seen a lot of them in Diagon Alley. Kim spent the rest of the ride talking to Coco and Edmund who she found out were just as nervous and excited as she was. A little while later someone came by their carriage and told them to change into their wizard robes. Kim had been excited for this because it would be the first time she got to wear them outside of the shop. She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, her black robes fell to her ankles, a white shirt tucked into her sleek black skirt and black tights. Kim even rebraided her golden blonde hair into a fishtail.

When Kim returned to the cabin she found Coco and Edmund changed into their robes as well. They were buzzing excitedly about the sorting hat which Kim soon learned is how the school decided what houses new students belonged in. There was so much chatter about houses, Kim was starting to feel very nervous. Thankfully she knew she wouldn't be put in Slytherin because she was a muggle born, but there was still Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw she had to worry about. Coco and Edmund both decided they'd rather be Gryffindors and Kim would rather not be but in diffrent houses than them.

Kim spent a lot of time spinning her wand around, trying to wave it in a certain pattern to see if it would somehow do something. She wanted to have that power to make things happen herself. Kim could almost feel the power radiating off her wand and thought back to what the shopkeeper had said about it being a balance between good and evil. All she wanted was to do something with it.

"Finally," said Coco, leaping to the window.

Kim peered out and saw a magnificent castle hit with an evening glow and felt her nerves boil. This was Hogwarts, she was finally at school for witchcraft and wizardry.


	6. The Sorting Hat

Chapter 6

"Has anybody seen Professor Umbridge?" said a girl walking through the isle. She was wearing identical black robes to Kim except for hers had a blue symbol on the chest and the word Ravenclaw written underneath.

"Have you seen Professor Umbridge?" the girl asked Kim.

Kim blinked blankly and shook her head. "Sorry, I don't know who that is," she replied.

Edmund and Coco shook their heads as well and the girl ran off, obviously distraught.

"First years outside first," called the conductor as he walked through the aisle waving his wand, except his wand made a sound that shouldn't have been coming from his wand. As he waved it back and forth it sounded more like he was ringing a cowbell.

Kim, Coco and Edmund hurried outside and joined many more first years, all shivering from excitement or either hyped up on sugar from the trolley. It was a while before Kim spotted James again because he was surrounded by a ring of other first years.

"First years follow me," said a man, only Kim realized he wasn't just a man, he was a giant man. He had a greying fiery black beard and twinkling coal eyes. He's big belly made him look jolly though and Kim noticed one of his fingers was missing.

"The name's Hagrid," said the big man. "I'll be yer Care for Magical Creatures teacher if you choose to take the class in your third year," he gruffed. "But for now I'm going to be taken ya' across the lake."

Kim exchanged nervous glances with Coco and Edmund as the boarded the vessel. The boat began to move immediately which for a second, caught Kim off guard. Kim Could see Hogwarts ahead and couldn't wait to be there already. She dipped her hand in the river and saw something stir below. Taking out her wand she taped the water again but nothing happened. Kim wished she could achieve something productive with this wooden stick. She wanted to see lightning fly out of it or something exciting happen.

At last the boat reached the dock and Hagrid helped each and every first year out of the boat. They all tried to run ahead of him to get into the castle but he held them back. Kim and her friends chattered excitedly as they passed the enchanted gates and reached the entrance hall. Finally they reached two huge double doors where Hagrid stopped them and told them they'd have to wait here for someone. Someone indeed did arrive, a plump, kind looking witch dressed in dark blue and large spectacles. She introduced herself as Professor Hecate Hayes.

"As most of you know," she said. "This next hour will be a very important one indeed. It will decide weather you are put in Gryffindor the brave, Ravenclaw the wise, Hufflepuff the humble or Slytherin the ambitious."

Kim stirred nervously, she couldn't take this tension anymore. When were they going to let her inside so she could get this part over with. The anticipation was almost killing her. Kim wondered if anyone had ever died before they were sorted into their house.

Finally once Professor Hayes was finished talking about how all the houses were great and that they'd be happy where ever they were placed, the great doors were thrown open and the first years could parade to the front of the dining hall. Four tables lined the room, each decorated with different house colors. All the returning students cheered and clapped when the first years entered, calling out their house name for pride.

Kim took a seat next to Coco and Edmund and dragged her fingers quickly through the tips of her braid. When Kim first saw the hat she was a little shocked. She was expecting a magnificent top hat, but this hat was old and raggedy. It surprised her even more when it began to talk and recited an entire poem with much detail that Kim didn't remember much of. Finally, with a stomach twisting wrench, the sorting hat began to call names. No one Kim recognized climbed up the step to try on the hat for a long time, she was starting to wonder if she'd get called at all.

"James Potter," said the hat.

A murmur went through the otherwise silent students as James sat down on the stool with a nervous grin and tried on the hat.

"Gryffindor!" yelled the hat after a mere few seconds.

There was a great cheer from the Gryffindor table. For some reason that made Kim want to be in that house even more.

"No surprise there," muttered Coco.

A few names later Coco was called up by the hat. Kim hugged her knees nervously and watched for a long time but nothing happened. Finally the hat made up it's mind.

"Ravenclaw!" It screeched.

Coco took of the hat looking a little confused but went towards the cheering table all the same. Now that Coco was in Ravenclaw Kim had changed her mind about what house she wanted to be in. Her new plan was to beg the hat to let her into that house before it could decide she belonged anywhere else.

"Kimberly Banks," said the hat and Kim nearly jumped out of her skin.

She walked shakily up to the pedestal and felt the eyes of the entire room fall upon her. Kim's pulse was beating almost out of her ribcage and she thought she might just collapse right here and now. Professor Hayes dropped the raggedy hat over her head but before the hat stayed there for more than a split second it had made a decision. The hat had barely touched her head and there was already a table cheering, but it couldn't be the table the hat had just called.

Dazed and confused Kim got up and headed over to the Slytherin table, but surely there had been a mistake. She couldn't be a Slytherin, her parents were muggleborn. Coco had been very clear that muggleborns couldn't be in Slytherin. Her heart was pumping even faster than it had before if that was even possible. She hadn't even had time to request a different house, if that was even possible. How had the hat made a decision so quickly?

Kim sat in an empty seat next to another new first year and immediately an older girl went to shake her hand.

"Welcome to Slytherin," she said brightly. "I'm Gemma Farley, a prefect," she pointed to her badge. "Boy that was the fastest I've ever seen the sorting hat claim anyone."

Kim couldn't form words to come up with a reply. She was so numb with shock she didn't even notice anything peculiar about the girl sitting next to her until she said hello.

The other first year girl had pale skin and pink eyes but it was her snow white hair that shocked her. It was pulled back into a tight bun like the girl was trying to hide it or something.

"Hi," said Kim shyly. "I'm Kim."

"Diamond," said the girl and it took Kim a second to realize it was her name. "I saw you get sorted," she said. "The hat placed you in here pretty quick. Where your parents in Slytherin?"

Kim hesitated for a second, remembering what Coco had said about Slytherins hating muggleborns.

"Yes," she said but immediately wished she hadn't lied. Diamond would probably catch on when Kim didn't know a single spell or even what proper magic really looked like. Now she'd have to lie from the entire Slytherin house that she was at least halfblood.

"Mine where Slytherin too," said Diamond. "My dad was in the same year as Harry Potter and my mom a few years younger. They were both here during the great banishing."

"What's that?" Kim asked and immediately regretted revealing her cluelessness.

"During the second great wizarding war, battle of Hogwarts in this very dining hall the Gryffindors banished all of the Slytherins even those willing to fight for the right cause to the dungeons," Diamond said. "My mom was a healer, she could have saved lives and my dad said he knew something about a Horcrux that he'd overheard his brother talking about. Don't tell anyone but my uncle was a death eater," Diamond whispered.

Of course most of this made no sense to Kim but she nodded anyway. She was a little relieved to know that not all Slytherins were evil like she'd thought but then what would Coco and Edmund think of her? The sorting hat had sorted her in the blink of an eye, surely people must think she's pure evil in order to be sorted that quickly. Everyone seemed to think Slytherins were cold hearted people only caring for themselves. Coco and Edmund might never talk to her as a Slytherin.


	7. Pureblood

Authors Note: I've never done this before, exiting :) First of all thank you to everyone who has read any part of this and if you're on chapter seven it means that you cared enough to keep reading. Every comment just makes my day ten times better and makes me want to keep writing. Special thanks to writingchild for being here since the very first chapter and always leaving a review (you should check out her lovely story Honeydukes girl and the Weasley Boys) as well ZoetheBibliophile for being super exited about my story which always makes me exited to keep writing. Again, thanks everyone for commenting, a few words can mean a lot :)

Chapter 7: Pureblood

Kim soon learned why there there were empty plates and knives and forks out yet no food. As soon as all the first years had taken a seat at their correct tables, Kim caught word of a feast appearing from Diamond. First, however she'd half to endure a speech from the headmistress who had been quietly sitting at the head table for the longest time. She wore a flowing green robe and her black hair tucked into a tight bun. As she rose, all attention was directed to her.

"Welcome everyone," she said. "To another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

There were cheers and applause that were soon silenced.

"I am Professor Alexandria," said the woman. "It is my first year teaching here at

Hogwarts and I am delighted to be handed the torch from the esteemed Professor McGonagall who was kind enough to still be here with us to guide me through my first week as headmistress."

An elderly lady managed to rise from a seat on the high table and wave. There was a wave of student approval and Kim figured she must have been a popular teacher. Kim noticed she was chatting and sitting next to Donovan and was relieved to see him among the crowd. She suddenly wondered what he would think of he being put in Slytherin. A not so appetizing feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.

After Professor Alexandria finished her speech the school began to sing the school song, only everyone seemed to have their own tune to how it went. In fact, Kim realized no one really knew how the song went, they just made up their own version. Kim gave up trying to sing along and sat down which was what most of the other Slytherins had decided to do. The song concluded with some redheaded kid singing a slow funeral march and then bursting into laughter. Then it was time to eat.

Kim watched in amazement as platters of food bloomed into existence on the table right before her very eyes. The Slytherins were very civil people, she realized. They passed the plates around and took small portions to leave more for other people. Kim looked over and watched the Gryffindors on the other side of the room fight each other for the last chicken leg and stuff as much food in their mouth as possible. Kim realized that in all of her self conscious thoughts about being put in Slytherin, she'd failed to notice what house Edmund had fallen into and now couldn't pick out him or Coco in the crowd.

"Can you do this?" Diamond asked, bringing Kim's attention back to the Slytherin table. She pulled out her wand made out of a wood so light it almost matched her hair. "Accio fork."

A fork fly off the table and nearly impaled Diamond's eye. Instead it made a loud noise as it hit the floor.

Diamond laughed like it was funny she'd nearly blinded herself. "Better not try that again," she said.

Desserts were passed out, Kim ate part of a pudding but she'd hadn't had much dinner either. Her stomach seemed to be rejecting everything she told to put in it. Kim's eyes kept scanning the crowd, looking for Coco or Edmund for reassurance. Finally, the prefects announced it was time for the Slytherin house to go back to their dormitories. That was it. Kim had missed her chance to talk to her friends.

"Watch out for Peeves!" Diamond called as the walked down the corridor.

"What?" said Kim, but it was too late. She was hit by an icy blast of cold air from behind and nearly screamed when a ghost with a maniacal grin appeared on the other side of her, cackling hysterically. Diamond was laughing but Kim needed a few seconds to get over the fact that an actual ghost had just run through her. She watched it drift away and began to feel a little sick. Did all people become ghosts in the afterlife?

"You okay?" Diamond said after she'd finished laughing.

"Fine," said Kim, trying to put on a grin. She would have to pretend she was use to ghosts if she was going to act like a pureblood.

Kim felt the air around her get chillier as they headed deeper into the castle and hugged her robes close to her. They were far into the castle now and Kim had gotten bored already of seeing the same stone hallways stretch further and further ahead. She hadn't seen much of the rest of the castle and had caught a glimpse of a moving staircase. Finally they reached the bottom of some staircases leading downwards and found themselves in the castle dungeons. So far the Slytherin common room wasn't feeling so friendly.

Some of the other first years stared uncomfortably at a grey stone wall until the head boy stepped forward.

"Toad Whiskers," he said.

A crack in the wall appeared and the stone began to slide open like a door.

"Everyone take note, that is the the password for this fortnight," said the headboy. "First years you'll need it to get in here or else you'll have to wait out here until somebody else comes along."

Everyone stepped through the stone archway before it closed behind them.

The first thing Kim realized was that they were actually underwater. Great glass windows draped in green let in not sunlight but a beautiful view from under the lake. Schools of fish swam by as well as other aquatic things Kim didn't recognize. Everything in the common room was aglow with warm inviting lights, revealings everything from emerald green sofas to tables and chairs to do homework. There was a fire running in the fireplace but instead of it's usual red glow it shone silver and spit off green sparks.

"Welcome home everyone," said Gemma Farley, the prefect. "And welcome to you first years who are new."

There was an applause and some cheers which was odd to Kim because everyone had previously been looking so serious and businesslike.

"First years there are a few common misconceptions you might have about Slytherin so let's try to get them out of the way," said Gemma. "We're not evil, we're ambitious," she said. "Slytherin helps you achieve greatness, it's what we're known to do. Our house is responsible for the darkest wizard of all time and although we do not take pride in that we must appreciate that he was a great wizard. A terrible wizard," Gemma added. "but a great one."

There were cheers and boos from the other Slytherins but Gemma hushed the crowd.

"We are the most competitive house," she declared. "We're the most cunning at everything but we don't boast about it like Ravenclaw. We are also the only house with a special code."

Suddenly the entire room got very quiet and Kim looked around nervously. Gemma looked like she was about to reveal a very important piece of information.

"The most important part of being a Slytherin is sticking together," said Gemma. "If we don't all join together to form the body of a snake, the whole house will fall apart. Join or die."

Kim looked around, everyone seemed to be taking this very seriously.

"If somebody hexes your friend you hex them back," she said. "If somebody hits you, another Slytherin will hit them harder. You see someone in your house hurt, you help them. It's as simple as that. No other house is as committed to each other as the house of Salazar Slytherin. You got that first years? We're ambitious, cunning and united. Join or die!" she yelled.

"Join or die! Join or die!" The entire room began to chant until they were screaming at the top of their lungs.

Kim stumbled into the girls dormitory completely exhausted. She almost didn't notice that the ceiling of the room was made of glass so they could watch the lake above from their fourposter beds, also draped with green velvet. Kim found her trunk and moved it over next to Diamond's bed. She could hardly keep her eyes open long enough to change out of her wizard robes but managed to climb into bed. Some of the people around her were still awake which she found annoying.

"Is Professor Umbridge the new defence against the dark arts teacher?" she heard someone ask.

"Yeah I thinks so," said another girl say.

Kim's mind was too numb to continue listening to the conversation. Her last vision was of some kind of merperson floating above her ceiling but that couldn't be right. Slytherin or not, tomorrow was her first day of Hogwarts.


	8. Kim Infected

Chapter 8

Kim awoke not in morning like she thought but only a few hours later when someone turned on the lights.

"Not this again," someone muttered.

It took a few moments for Kim's eyes to clear but she sat up and saw a couple of older girls standing at the front of the room with presumptuous grins on their faces.

"Welcome first years," said one of the girls. "To Slytherin house."

There was a weird applause and some howling.

"All of you," said another girl. "Are about to undergo initiation."

Kim looked over at Diamond's bed and they exchanged worried glances. Initiation didn't sound too fun.

"First year girls, are you braver than Gryffindor?" said a girl.

There were boos at the mention of the other house's name.

"Smarter than Ravenclaw?" she said. "I mean anyone's witter than Hufflepuff and I right?"

There were more cheers from the girls and Kim wondered how they weren't waking everyone up.

"Come on first years out of bed, all of you," yelled a girl with a pimply face.

Some of the other girls yanked the covers off from Kim and Diamond's bed and forced them to get up. Kim had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She noticed only one girl was still asleep, Gemma Farley, the prefect. The poor girl was obviously under some kind of sleeping charm.

Kim, Diamond and about three other girls were shoved to the front of the room by many hands. She still felt groggy from sleep and wanted only to get back in bed and be well rested for the next day, only she noticed some of the girls were already busy tying her sheets around the four posters for fun. Diamond looked tired too, her white hair was very long when it wasn't in a bun and her eyes looked pinker than in the day. She rubbed them vigorously, trying to get sleep out of her eyes.

"Move along," said one of the girls and the rest of them pushed forward, forcing Kim and the others to lead the way to the other end of the girls dormitory. Kim was confused until one girl pulled out her wand and tapped the farthest bed to the left.

"Alohomora," she said and the bed sprang upwards.

Below was a silver manhole cover which was also removed so that far below that they could actually fall into the lake. Kim realized with sickening jolt, what their task was.

"Alright fishies," said the head girl who was tall and had a nasty grin. "Who wants to swim first?"

"We have to jump down there?" said another first year girl, looking almost as sick as Kim felt.

"Good a volunteer," said the head girl, pushing the scared plump girl forward towards the drain. "You want to prove you're a Slytherin don't you?" The head girl spun around. "We don't want any chickens in this house and we don't allow outsiders, am I right?"

"Join or die, join or die," the whole room began to chant.

The plump blonde girl seemed to stiffen at this and before it looked like she could change her mind, she jumped. A second later, Kim heard a splash. Diamond and Kim exchanged worried glances.

"I'm alright," came a voice.

There was much applause and hooting from the other Slytherins.

"Now you've got to swim up to the surface and get back here without Filch catching you," the head girl called down. "Good luck!"

There were some laughs and snickers from the other girls and Kim felt her stomach twist into another knot.

"You there, you're next," said a gruff looking girl and Kim took a second to realize that she'd just been pushed forward.

Kim was grabbed by the shirt and almost tossed down the hole.

"I'd hold your breath if I were you," said the head girl and before Kim had time to process what she was saying she was free falling, screaming even until she broke the surface of the water and had to hold her breath.

The plump girl was gone, it was only her at the bottom of the drain and no one seemed concerned with whether she was alright. She felt wet and gross but dove under again so that she wouldn't be hit by the next person on their way down. Kim hadn't realized how deep she was. It was dark out as well so as Kim swam she had no idea how close she was from the surface. She didn't like being out when she wasn't suppose to be, at least not on the first day when things had been going so smoothly. If she got caught she could be sent home to her parents before she even got to attend one class.

Just as Kim thought she couldn't hold her breath for one more second, her head broke the surface of the lake and she gasped for air. At least she was somewhat close to the dock, she recond. Kim doggy paddled over to solid ground and hoisted herself on to the bank. She was soon joined by Diamond, also drenched in water and not looking so pleased.

"So much for the Slytherin code and sticking together," she muttered.

Kim and Diamond looked around, they were in some kind of forest by the looks of it, but

it was dark and they couldn't see much. Suddenly it became all too clear where they were, the forbidden forest that Professor Alexandria had talked about in her speech. Kim hadn't been paying much attention but she was pretty sure forbidden meant they really weren't suppose to be here.

At least Kim had been too obsessed with her wand to even put it down, she found it thankfully still tucked in her sleeve and pulled it out.

"Oh I've got this," said Diamond, producing her own wand. "Lumos," she said and the tip of her wand began to glow brightly like a flashlight.

"How did you do that?" Kim said, waving her wand and repeating the same thing, nothing happened.

"Let me see," said Diamond and she took Kim's wand carefully and repeated the spell. Kim's wand lit up like a lightbulb and Diamond handed it back to her.

Now at least the could see. Kim pointed her wand upwards at the sky and they could make out the castle clearly now, not that far ahead. Suddenly however Kim heard a noise like a wolf howling. The hairs on the back of her neck started to prick and her breath caught in her throat. Diamond looked just as scared. The heard rustling the bush behind them and both girls darted forward. In a wicked roar, a hideous creature burst from the bushes. It took Kim only one moment to realize it was a werewolf.

Kim and Diamond let out simultaneous screams and before they could stop it they both shot off in opposite directions. There was another murderous howl from right behind Kim and she screamed again, realizing the werewolf had decided to chase her. Kim had never been so scared her her life. She pulled out her wand and waved it around, praying desperately for a spell that would protect her but she could think of nothing. All she could do was wave it around helplessly.

The edge of the forest was near, she could make it. She felt her legs move faster than they'd ever run before. Then out of nowhere a tree root appeared and Kim fell right on her face. It took a mere second for the werewolf to catch up to her and suddenly pain exploded around her leg. She was being dragged on her face, backwards into the forest. Kim screamed, she was going to die, she knew it. The werewolf would rip her limb from limb. She gave her wand one last wave but nothing happened. Suddenly there was light.

"Stupify," said a voice and red light crackled from somewhere in the distance.

The werewolf released it's hold of Kim's leg in a jolt and flew backwards. Kim heard running from ahead and someone helped her sit up. She almost thought it was too good to be true. There was no one else in the world Kim would rather see right then than Donovan.


	9. New Blood

Chapter 9: New Blood  
"Minerva over here," called Donovan.

The kind old woman Kim had seen talking to Donovan at the feast ran over looking extremely worried. She and Donovan exchanged very nervous glances.

"Have Hagrid bring the stretcher," she said.

"Please," Kim begged, she vision was cloudy and she felt like she was about to slip out of consciousness because of the pain levels. "My friend is out there, Diamond, someone has to help her."

The expression on Professor McGonagall's face switched to panic.

"How many of you are there out there?" she asked.

"All of us," Kim said, sluggishly. She didn't want to be talking right now. "They made all of the first year girls jump into the lake."

Professor McGonagall stood up rigidly like she was trying to conceal her distress. Just then the giant man that Kim had seen earlier burst onto the scene carrying a stretcher. His eyes were wild and his beard even wilder.

"What is it, what happened?" said the giant man Hagrid.

"Another one," said McGonagall grimly. "Will you bring her back to your hut? I have to go find the other teachers. Apparently there are more children wandering around the forest."

"Bloody first years," said Hagrid.

Kim let out another scream of pain as Hagrid lifted her onto the stretcher. He was big enough that he could carry her by himself in it but it was a bumpy ride. Kim moaned in pain and she slipped out of consciousness for about thirty seconds before being dragged back to reality in front of a great wooden hut. Hagrid kicked the door open and cleared off an entire table with the swoop of his arm so that he could lay her down. A course pillow was propped up under her head and so it was then that Kim realized exactly how much she was bleeding. Kim felt like she wanted to barf just at the sight of it.

Hagrid produced a knife and Kim for a terrifying second she thought he was going to saw her leg off but instead he cut her pajama pants from the knee down and disposed of the torn, bloodied fabric. Now Kim could see how deep the bite was and it wasn't pretty.

"Bite down," Hagrid said and shoved a rag in her mouth.

Kim did and realized why after Hagrid began to wash the wound. She screamed again but it was muffled severely by the rag. Soon the wound was clean and Kim's throat had run completely dry. Hagrid began to bandage the wound with gauze and removed the rag from Kim's mouth.

"There, that wasn't so bad was it," Hagrid said but his tone wasn't so cheery.

Just then the door swung open again and Donovan appeared looking anxious.

"We got them, the other first years, they're all fine and we've sent them back down to Slytherin house," he said. "We told them Kim is with Professor Alexandria but they're all going to be severely punished in the morning," he said grimly. Then he came over to Kim's side and squeezed her hand and Kim realized he was holding back tears. "You okay Kim?" he asked weakly.

"Uh huh," Kim managed, but that's all she could say. She was so relieved that Diamond and the other first years hadn't been caught by the werewolf.

There is was again, Donovan exchanged another nervous glance with Hagrid.

"Where's Longbottom?" Hagrid asked.

"He'll be here soon," said Donovan.

Kim waited until she heard the door to the hut swing open again but it was Professor McGonagall who wanted to speak privately to the other two men. Kim heard something about calling her parents but she knew that would never work. Her parents were muggles after all. Kim didn't see what the big deal was, it was only a flesh wound after all, it would heal. Then her stomach twisted when she realized they might be thinking about expelling her. That couldn't happen, she had to be here at Hogwarts and learn magic. Slytherin had gotten one thing right, she was ambitious.

A little later another man and a young women arrived, the woman dressed in purple and the man wearing green robes and carrying a shallow box of strange glass containers. Professor McGonagall greeted the man as Neville and the woman as Professor Silva.

"Kim why don't you sit up," said Hagrid. "We need to have a little talk."

Kim was able to move from the table to a normal chair so that she faced the five adults. A little talk didn't sound good, it sounded like they were going to expel her and with all the adults looking at her with such grim faces, she was sure this must be true.

"Kim," Donovan said. "I just want to start out by saying everyone here in this room is dedicated to keeping you as a student here at Hogwarts."

Kim was relieved though now even a little bit more confused because all the teachers still looked like they'd witnessed a murder.

"Yes you are in trouble," said McGonagall, "and if I were still a teacher here I would take many more points from your house than these four had settled on but that isn't our top priority right now," she said.

Kim's stomach was snaking itself back into knots. If they weren't here to expel her than what was so important that they all had to be here to tell her.

"Before you worry about this getting out all five of us are sworn to secrecy," said Donovan. "I trust them all with my life. McGonagall has been here longer than any of us, Hagrid was a teacher here when I was at school, both of them were in the Order of the Phoenix. Longbottom fought for us at the Battle of Hogwarts and Professor Silva and I are very close because we went to school together. All these people in the room want to help you."

"I don't understand," said Kim. "What is so secret?"

"You were bitten by a werewolf Kim," said Donovan. "Which means you now become one."

Kim blinked several times. She could tell if she wanted to cry, scream or was mostly just shocked. Kim wasn't a monster, it couldn't be true. She didn't want to become that hideous beast that she'd seen and would know haunt her nightmares.

"There has to be a way to reverse it," Kim exclaimed.

"That's what Professors Longbottom and Silva are here for," said McGonagall. "They cannot reverse a bite has gotten into your bloodstream but they can prevent you from transforming."

"Permanently?" Kim asked.

Professor Silva sighed. "Not permanently," she said. "But I will brew you a potion every month that stops the transformation from happening. It won't taste good but it's been proven to work."

"I had a very dear friend," said Hagrid. "He was a werewolf too and he always made the best of his life."

Kim was relieved, if all she had to do was drink a potion every month then she'd be fine.

"Kim you should also know, some of the wizarding world doesn't exactly tolerate werewolves," said Donovan. "They're stupid, ignorant people but it's best to be careful who you tell about this. For example, Professor Alexandria might not be the best person to talk to. For some reason they think just by being around werewolves or touching the same thing they touched, they'll somehow be infected."

Kim stared uncomfortably at her shoes. That reminded her an awful lot of a disease she'd learned about in the muggle world and knew how people with that disease were sometimes treated.

"It might take a little while to adjust but with our help you won't have to worry about a thing," said the Professor with the funny last name. Professor Longbottom.

"It's very late," said McGonagall. "Kim you need to be rested for your first day of Hogwarts so we'll deal with your punishment in the morning. Take the potion from Professor Silva and Professor Longbottom, it will help with the pain."

The two wizards Kim hadn't met before came over and offered her a disgusting liquid in a glass phile. When the uncorked it a foul smell poured out, lacing the air with vile smell. Kim took the glass apprehensively and pressed it against her lips. It took her a few moments to get the guts to swallow it and when she did she nearly gagged.

"Probably shouldn't tell you what was in it," said Professor Longbottom.

Kim shuttered.

"Take this," said Hagrid, handing her a wooden crutch. "You'll feel all better in the morning."

Kim was able to rise and sucked in a breath when she tried to take a step. As soon as she leaned on the crutch though she felt better and hobbled her way back outside. Donovan was happy to escort her back to her dormitory and lead her back inside the castle where it was warmer. Kim suddenly wished she was back here seven hours ago when she'd first arrived so she could just redo everything. If only there was a device that let witches rewrite history.

"What house are you in?" asked Kim finally.

"Ravenclaw," answered Donovan. "I'm head of house this year. It's my first year as a teacher."

There was silence for a moment before Donovan continued. "You know I can tell you're not happy about being put in Slytherin," he said.

Kim waved her crutch before taking a step. "Can you see why?"

"They're not bad people," said Donovan. "When I was in school here, right after the battle of Hogwarts, there was all this talk about the great banishing. Something that had happened during the fight where the entire house had been treated like death eaters and locked in the dungeons. It took years for the other houses to realize that this may not have been the right plan. My first year of Hogwarts everyone hated the Slytherins, thought they were all out to get us, but we were wrong. As the years went on people got better and realized that maybe not all the Slytherins were on Voldemort's side. Now we've gotten to the point where some of the students here weren't even born during the second wizarding war."

"I still don't think I belong," said Kim.

"You've got a lot of ambition," said Donovan. "That's a good thing. Ambitious wizards are the ones who achieve greatness. You know I think if you set your mind to it you could turn over a new leaf, make Slytherins known for producing good wizards. You are still one of us you know," said Donovan.

Kim looked down at her bandaged leg and had to swallow a lump of clay in order not to let her voice quiver. "It doesn't feel like it," said said.

Donovan and Kim reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room and he gave her a gentle hug as to not hurt Kim's leg further.

"It's going to be alright," he said.

"Thanks Donovan," said Kim.

Donovan gave a small smile. "You can't call me that tomorrow you know," he said. "You'll have to get use to calling me Professor Umbridge in class."

Kim noded. "Got it," she said. "Goodnight Professor Umbridge."


	10. Hogwarts 101

Authors note: Sorry to repeat this but if anyone knows how to get my views counter fixed it would be much appreciated thanks!

Chapter 10:

Kim hobbled her way back to the girls dormitory. It was dark and things looked normal but as soon as Kim had been in the room long enough for other people to realize she was alone, everyone pulled out their wands, the tips already glowing. It freaked Kim out for a second and she almost lost her balance on her crutch. Everyone had been lying awake waiting for her to come back.

"What happened," asked a girl. "Did you get attacked by werewolf?"

"What?" said Kim, already on red alert.

She was very tired but the dorm couldn't have figured out her secret that quickly.

"That girl told us you two were being chased by a werewolf," said another girl, the head girl Kim realized and she was pointing at Diamond.

"Oh uh yeah," said Kim. "I got away though," she lied. "McGonagall found me and got rid of it before it even got close."

"Then how'd you hurt your leg?" someone pointed out.

"I tripped," said Kim, through gritted teeth.

Some of the girls laughed but Kim ignored them. At least they bought the story. Kim bit down on her lip as she hoisted herself into bed and tried not to make more than a whimper. It felt so good to be back in bed, Kim had never felt so grateful for a place to sleep. Her head sunk into the pillow again and finally she could sleep.

Kim awoke the next morning in a cold sweat. She dreamed she had become the beast that had chased her last night and had chosen to prey on Coco and Edmund. It was the giant squid swimming above her bed that reminded her that she was still stuck here. She didn't get to press a big do over button like she'd wished. Kim was still in Slytherin house and after last night, she was still infected.

Thankfully, Kim realized that her leg felt much better than the day before and she didn't even need her crutch to stand. She'd have to thank Professor Silva and Longbottom today if she saw them. Kim dressed herself in the same fashion as the day before, but let her hair down this time. She also noticed the green and silver pin striped tie that was included in every nightstand drawer. Kim put it on and looked at herself in the mirror. The gauze was still noticeable through her tights so she put on long black socks that reached to her knees. They were hot but they'd have to work for now.

Kim noticed that Diamond had decided to conceal her white hair in a turban and was wearing dark sunglasses as well. She almost didn't recognize her as she walked past and Kim scurried to catch up with her.

"I didn't know what happened to you last night," Diamond said as they walked together towards the great hall. "I thought maybe it had gotten you."

"The werewolf?" said Kim. "I really didn't want anyone to know about that."

"What? Why?" asked Diamond. "I'm sorry, I was just scared. After Professor Umbridge found me he told me to go back to the common room. I was worried sick last night. Kim you have to realize how sorry I am. We shouldn't have jumped down into the lake, we could have just said no."

Kim stopped walking and Diamond almost took off without her but she doubled back.

"Kim what's wrong?" asked Diamond. "You're almost paler than me," she said and touched her own face.

"Diamond it got me," Kim said before she could change her mind."It got me Diamond, the werewolf."

Diamond's face darkened and she even took off her sunglasses to look Kim in the eye. "You're infected?" she said.

Kim nodded, scared she might have just lost a friend but instead Diamond just walked beside her.

"It could have just as easily been me," she said quietly.

When Kim and Diamond reached the Great Hall the room was abuzz. There were kids everywhere, scrambling around, trying to get their schedules in order. Someone handed Diamond and Kim a schedule as they took a seat at the Slytherin table and they looked over it together while chatting over breakfast. Kim had Herbology first thing in the morning which sounded like a bore. Then she had charms, something called defence against the dark arts and finally potions in the afternoon. Kim was pleasantly surprised when Coco and Edmund joined them at the Slytherin table and Kim learned that Edmund had also become a Ravenclaw.

"Oh look we have defence against the dark arts together," said Coco, referring to her schedule. "Professor Umbridge is head of our house and he seems pretty cool."

"Yeah, I've met him," said Kim.

After breakfast all the first year Slytherin girls and boys headed off to the greenhouses. Inside there were all sorts of plants, some of them looked normal enough others were freaky and reminded Kim of Little Shop of Horrors. The Slytherins had class with the Hufflepuffs so Kim didn't recognize any of the other students. She sat with Diamond on the stools facing a long table with empty clay pots at each place.

"Welcome to Herbology first years," said the teacher and Kim recognized him from the night before as Professor Longbottom.

"What kind of name is that?" Diamond snickered under her breath after he introduced himself and Kim recognized other kids doing the same.

"Today we are planting elephant trunks," said Professor Longbottom. He taped his wand a piece of chalk and it began to draw a basic diagram.

"Yuck," said Diamond.

"There or course are not real elephant trunks," continued Professor Longbottom, they are just called so because the plant itself looks like a green elephant is sticking it's nose through your pot. "Now everyone remain seated, I'm going to be passing out the bulbs. Don't do anything before I say so."

Herbology was boring, just as Kim had expected it to be. She really wanted to learn how to do something with her wand. Thankfully, next period she was off to charms.

The man who taught charms was a very small professor in the sense that he was barely above Kim's knee. He had white hair and and spouted a snowy mustache and had to stand on a stool in order to be taken seriously in class. Finally it came time for Kim to use her wand.

"You all have a feather in front of you correct?" said Professor Flitwick and the class responded. "Good," he said. "Now repeat the motion I make with my wand as well as the words I say. Wingardium leviosa."

"Wingardium leviosa," said Kim and copied the motion pattern she's seen Professor Flitwick use. Nothing happened.

"Remember class, it's wingardium leviosa, not leviosa," he said, exaggerating his movements.

Kim tried again with several more failed attempts. She was already starting to get frustrated. Diamond had already achieved success and Kim realized she was the first one in the class.

"Well done Miss King? is it?" said Professor Flitwick. "That's 10 points to Slytherin, good job."

There was a groaning from the Gryffindors across the room.

"10 points isn't going to get us far," muttered Diamond. "I heard the teachers decided to take 200 points from Slytherin. We'll be in the negative till at least Halloween!" she exclaimed.

When Kim finally lifted her feather a few inches in the air she was stunned with delight.

She'd just made the feather move on her own. It was a feeling like none she'd ever compared to. As she tried to make the feather fly higher it fell down again but on the next try she could get it almost as high as Diamond. For the rest of the period Diamond couldn't stop smiling.

At lunch some of the Slytherins, including Diamond went to go harass some Gryffindors, specifically James Potter because they'd heard he'd teased the pudgy blonde girl in Kim's grade. Instead Kim decided to sit at the Ravenclaw table with Coco and Edmund who were buzzing about the transfiguration lesson they'd just had with Professor Hayes.

"Wait so you actually turned a cockroach into a pencil sharpener?" Kim asked, incredulous.

"And that's not even the best class," Coco said excitedly. "Defence against the dark arts with Professor Umbridge I heard is the best. I can't wait."

"Hey Kim what happened to your leg?" Edmund asked. "That wasn't there before right?"

Kim realized that the long black socks she'd put on this morning had fallen down and the bloody gauze was clearly visible through her tights.

"Oh uh, I fell," she said and quickly rolled her socks back up.

"Okay fine don't tell us," Edmund said, raising his arms. "There's just no way you could have fallen that badly."

Kim planned on eating the rest of her meal in silence but her plans were over run when Professor Alexandria came barreling into the dining hall looking distraught. She received a sharp look from McGonagall before reaching the podium where she could address the students. The look on her face was of panic and distress. This did not look good.


	11. The Siren

Authors Note: I was going to post this yesterday because GUESS WHAT? Yesterday was actually Kim's actual first day of Hogwarts, September 1st 2015. It would have been perfect but at least my view counter is working again. (It's still at a very low number though because it stopped counting after I posted chapter 2). Anyway another thank you to MissesE for the continued support and as you all hopefully know by now I appreciate and will respond to any review you send. You all are the best, thanks for continuing to read Kim's story. Also- One more disclaimer. Donovan is not Delores Umbridge's son in case you all are confused. Delores is Donovan's aunt. Kim is also related to the Umbridge family since that is her mother's maiden name. Anyways, back to the story :)

Chapter 11:

"Attention all Hogwarts students," called Professor Alexandria but everyone was already starting at her so calling more attention to herself was unnecessary. "I was just in my office and I heard word from some students that last night there was a werewolf sighting on school grounds."

Murmurs of tension spread through the great hall but Professor Alexandria soon hushed them.

"No one will be safe until we've found the culprit," she announced. "You all heard about the recent break out of Lycaon from Azkaban Prison several months ago. He's on the run but I never thought he'd come here. Lycanthropy is a disease children and spreads incredibly quickly. I'd be careful about what you touch because I've heard of people becoming infected just by being touched by a werewolf."

More whispers of panic spread through the school but Kim was no longer listening. She felt sick, more than sick she felt unwhole. Last night the werewolf had taken more than just her normalcy away, it had taken her future as well. How could Kim become a successful witch if she wasn't even a full witch anymore? She was diseased as Professor Alexandria put it, and stained. Kim was a monster.

Before she could stop herself she was running out of the dining hall in the chaos of the other students and found herself in a dark corridor where she could bury her head. Only Peeves the ghost found her a few minutes later and started to pick on her.

"Icky icky someone looks guilty," he said and laughed maniacally. "Looks like Moony's back at school."

Peeves zoomed off before Kim could say anything which just made her feel worse. What if Peeves went and tattled on her to Professor Alexandria. It wasn't the fear in her tone or the concern in her words that made Kim shaky, it was the loathing in her eyes for a creature such as herself. Would the people around her react in such a hateful tone? She was lucky Diamond was still her friend but decided she'd half to be more careful about who she shared her secret with.

After Kim had calmed her nerves a bit, she had no choice but to go to class as third period was starting soon. She put on a smile and caught up with Diamond as they made their way to defence against the dark arts. Diamond told Kim all about the hex she'd learned from some of the older girls and they'd used on James. For the rest of the day if he tried to say 'no' he would ribbit like a frog instead. Diamond offered to teach Kim the hex but she wasn't really in the mood for hexing people right then.

The defence against the dark arts classroom was by far the most interesting classroom Kim had seen so far. It was filled with interesting gadgets, pictures that moved and chalkboards that were drawing themselves cool diagrams of things Kim had never seen before. To top it all off she finally had Donovan as her teacher, or Professor Umbridge as he called himself. Kim and Diamond took a seat with Coco and Edmund but they were soon asked to move to a big open area of the classroom where Donovan stood, with wand in hand in front of a big wooden crate.

"Everyone take out your wand," said Donovan and the class did just that. "Today we are going to be learning a charm that freezes Sirens. For those of you unaware a siren is like a golem in the sense that it's a man made creature you can animate. However, Sirens are much more powerful because they have the ability to trick the defending wizard into being it is the thing they want most in the world. You wouldn't want to harm the thing you want most in the world now would you?" Donovan said.

Kim looked around, everyone seemed to be very intent on listening to Donovan's lesson. Even Kim was curious to what might be in the crate, but nervous that it might be harmful.

"Showing me what I like isn't that a good thing?" continued Donovan. "Yeah sure except for the siren feeds off of the wizard's delight for what it's become and if you're around one for too long, it could be deadly."

There room suddenly become stone silent.

"Oh course that won't be happening in our classroom," said Donovan cheerily. "This is a baby Siren, hardly deadly and with a good Medusus curse we'll be fine. Now before I teach you the spell who can tell me what creature the siren is often confused with?"

Coco raised her hand tentatively. "Boggart?" she guessed.

"That would be correct Miss Coco is that right?" said Donovan. "Ten points to Ravenclaw."

There was a short round of applause for Coco from the other Ravenclaws.

"People often confuse the two because they can both transform but a Boggart is an actual living creature, a Siren is man made and animated. In your sixth year I'll teach you how to animate one because freezing one is one thing, actually being able to finish them off is a lot trickier and more dangerous. Wands please," said Donovan and everyone raised their wands. "Repeat after me, Lapis Meduseus," he said.

"Lapis Meduseus," repeated the class.

"Good," said Professor Umbridge. "Form a circle."

The class somehow shuffled itself into a circle around the big crate and Kim found herself in between Diamond and Coco. Nobody spoke but Kim noticed people exchanging excited glances. This was definitely the most interesting class she'd been in all day.

"Wands at the ready," said Professor Umbridge and twenty unified wands were raised.

Donovan then proceeded to point his wand at the wooden crate. The first lock unbuckled itself and Kim saw something shift inside. Another lock broke and Kim realized it was trying to force it's way out. The third lock unlatched with a snap and what bust from the crate was not what Kim expected. She heard gasps from everyone in the room as they laid witness to the siren. Kim was staring at herself. She was dressed just how she was now except for instead of an emerald green striped tie, the other Kim was wearing a blue one, like the one Coco and Edmund were wearing. Kim looked down and noticed the other Kim wasn't wearing tube socks. She was human. It was exactly the girl Kim wished she could be.

"Ready class, remember the spell," said Donovan. "One, two three."

"Lapis Meduseus," yelled the class and silver sparks shot from Kim's wand. The combined effort of the class hit the creature all at once and suddenly, perfect Kim was gone and in it's place was a stone, featureless statue.

"Good," said Donovan, "Very good. Now let's all migrate back over to the desks so we can read about Sirens in our textbooks."

Kim watched as Donovan hauled the stone statue back into the crate but couldn't help but notice how shaken Diamond looked. She was still staring at the crate long after Donovan had handed out their assignment. Kim still hadn't gotten use to writing with a quill. It was much harder than using a pencil but seemed to be a wizard's prefered method of writing. She hadn't missed her phone much either, hadn't even thought about it since she left it behind on her way to the train station. There was no need for other forms of entertainment when lessons like these provided just as much.

After class, Diamond and Kim were walking through the halls when they noticed an older, Hufflepuff boy walking ahead of them, trailed by two Gryffindors who had enchanted little pebbles to constantly nick him in the back.

"Who's going to go all looney this month?" Kim heard one boy say as she passed by.

"Maybe you're the one Professor Alexandria is after," said the other boy. "Where were you last night during the full moon, wolf boy?"

The boy's hair turned a vibrant shade of green which took Kim by surprise.

"I'm not a werewolf," he growled irritably. "For the millionth time it's not passed down by genetics, now just leave me alone."

A stone hit him in the back of his head and he rubbed it and ran off. Kim cringed, was that going to start happening to her?

Kim and Diamond found themselves heading back towards the Slytherin common room but took a left turn and wound up further in the dungeons, also known as the potions classroom. Diamond seemed very eager to see the effects of her curse on James. After all, the Slytherins were once again paired up with their so called enemies, the Gryffindors.


	12. The Marauder's Map

Author Note: First of all, thank you all for your continued support. It means a lot to me. Second I just wanted to say, I am not a Harry Potter expert, I just really love the books. This means I probably make a lot of mistakes so please correct me if I get something wrong. (Which I do a lot :) I know I'm awful at grammer and spelling and sometimes my fingers will slip on the keyboard so there will be some little mistakes but that's not what I mean. I'm just talking about inconstancies with the Harry Potter cannon, stuff like that. Anyways, thanks again everyone and enjoy chapter 12.

Chapter 12

Kim actually enjoyed potions class very much and was happy to see Professor Silva again though she acted like she hadn't met her before. Another thing Kim realized was that she was actually good at potions, particularly the healing one they'd droughted that day. Her's had been the right color and hadn't boiled over like Diamond's had. Diamond was too focused on James anyway, exploding with laughter alongside another Slytherin girl every time he made a ribbit noise.

Professor Silva was someone Kim already admired because of how calm and level headed she'd been the night of her infection but Kim quickly learned that she didn't really know much about potions. In the middle of the lesson the example cauldron caught fire and Professor Silva had to start over. Apparently it was her first year teaching here and her first choice as a teacher had of course been, defence against the dark arts. Kim wondered why they'd hired someone unskilled in their own field of teaching.

It wasn't until after Potions class that Kim was actually introduced to the other girl she'd seen Diamond hanging out with when she wasn't with her. She'd first spotted them together when Diamond had laid the hex on James and supposed they must be accomplices. Her name was Cherokee and was an asian girl with silky long black hair and glasses. She laughed a lot and Kim recognized her from the previous night when all the first years had been forced to jump down into the lake. Kim also recognized her as the girl she'd seen bulling Edmund when they'd gotten off the train and called him a mudblood, which Kim assumed was a nasty name. She and Diamond however seemed to get along very well and Kim couldn't help but feel a little jealous of their friendship.

Later that day Kim was in the Slytherin common room finishing up her homework when Diamond and Cherokee came through the stone tunnel laughing about something and came over to tell Kim about it.

"Kim you had to have been there," she said. "There was this Ravenclaw who was like totally lost and Cher totally nailed her with a muffliato curse. You should have heard her voice!" she cried between fits of laughter.

Kim forced her mouth into a thin smile and tried to laugh along but she wasn't exactly thrilled about the fact that all of her friends in Slytherin seemed to find amusement in harassing other students. At first it had been because one of them had in turn insulted a Slytherin but now it was just out of sheer pleasure. On her way back to the Slytherin common room, Kim had seen Cherokee trip the fifth year Hufflepuff she'd seen being harassed earlier and laughed about it with Diamond. Kim didn't like it but she didn't know what else to do besides go along with it in fear of not fitting in.

At dinner Kim's fear was confirmed when Coco and Edmund refused to sit with them and sent pointed glares across the room. Apparently Coco had been the one to receive the muffliato curse from Cherokee and wasn't too thrilled about it. Besides food, dinner also brought the introduction of the house ghosts which frightened Kim more than anything. The Slytherin house ghost was terrifying and covered with blood. No wonder he was called the Bloody Baron.

Kim spent the next week trying to figure out the best routes to get to class as well as trying to get use to Cherokee's methods of fun. After class one day the three of them planted puking pastilles in Professor Hayes's coffee because neither of them had liked the transfiguration lesson that day. Kim didn't like transfiguration as much as she thought because Professor Hayes kept staring at her and picking on only her in the class. Hayes was head of Hufflepuff house which didn't help because they had class with the Hufflepuffs and she always gave them more points than they deserved. Cherokee called her a Snyder, someone who was prejudice against Slytherins.

By the end of her Kim's first week she realized she and the others had been attracting quite a bit of attention. While she'd grown farther apart from Coco and Edmund, the trio had become quite popular among the Slytherin first years and had attracted a follower by the name of Liesel. Liesel was a shorter girl with frizzy brown hair and seemed to idolize the trio which Kim found shocking as well as a little freaky. She was eager to tell them everything about herself including where she was born, where she grew up, how much she knew about quidditch and more stuff Kim didn't really pay attention to. She wasn't sure how good she felt being a part of a group of people that was glorified for causing mischief. It wasn't who she use to be before she came to Hogwarts.

Before long Kim was able to forget from time to time about what had happened to her the first night of being a Hogwarts student but every time she let her mind wander, the image of the werewolf came back to plague her. Liesel seemed to find the bite mark on her leg, now scarred over fascinating and annoyingly enough would never let it go. Kim covered for it saying it was from an incidenent in her mother's greenhouse a few years back and Diamond helped but her constant comments were still a little bothersome. At least she knew Diamond still had her back.

As the month neared a close, Kim starting feeling less and less like herself. She even stopped eating a week before the full moon because she felt sick whenever presented with food. Diamond took notice of this and forced her at least nibble on some bread before bedtime. Cherokee and Liesel were concerned as well which surprised Kim at first but made her feel better. After all the first years in Slytherin had been given detention for the month after their midnight initiation, they'd had a lot of time to bond over things like their favorite books and Kim had even been introduced to some wizard authors who wrote wonderful stories. Cherokee had finally given up being annoyed with Liesel for hanging around them and had sort of officially joined their group which now was actually kind of popular among the other Slytherins. Kim, Diamond and Cherokee were no doubt the most talented witches among the Slytherin first years and along with Diamond and Cherokee's love for bullying the Ravenclaws, they were pretty well known in the common room.

It was one day, late September that Liesel finally proved herself to the other three when she returned with an idem she'd nicked from James Potter himself. Cherokee had laughed when she brought it back because on the outside it looked like a spare bit of parchment but Liesel explained further.

"I saw James using it, watch," she said and pulled out her wand. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," she said.

Little black letter ink began to appear on the parchment reading, 'Messrs Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present, The Marauder's Map.

"Nice," said Cherokee and Liesel looked a little bit too pleased with herself.

Kim was shocked to realize the whole parchment was a map of Hogwarts with just about every passage mapped out. This would make getting to class on time much easier than it had been before. Maybe now she'd be able to see ahead of time which moving staircase would randomly swing upwards from time to time and lead her off course. That of course was not what the others had in mind.

"Look you can see exactly where Hayes is right now," said Diamond. "Now we can know if the coast is clear when we sneak into her office."

"Those Weasley guys were a genius," said Cherokee. "But we've used just about every trick they've got already."

"Then we'll make our own," said Leisel. "We just have to-" but Kim never heard her finish her sentence.

"Kim," said Professor Silva. Immediately Cherokee swiped the map and hid it under the table. Kim hadn't even heard her enter the common room much less sneak up behind them. "Professor Umbridge and I would like to see you," she said.

"Ooh Kim, did you get a detention under the radar?" said Cherokee. "Nice going."

Professor Silva raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as Kim got up to leave. Her stomach had just been pulled high up in her chest and by now was already snaking itself into several knots. She already knew just by Professor Silva's tone what this was about.

Kim and Professor Silva wound their way outside the castle near Hagrid's hut where this whole mess started. There, Donovan was waiting for them, dressed in a blue vest and staring at the opposite wall. He turned around when they arrived, looking grim.

"How are you Kim?" he asked as she took a seat at his desk. "You look sick."

"I am sick," said Kim before she could think it through properly.

Kim saw Professor Silva and Donovan exchange meaningful looks and sunk lower in her seat.

"You probably know why we brought you here," said Donovan. "You're first... transformation is approaching and we're going to show you where you'll need to be at that time. Obviously you cannot stay in the dorms because even though you will be in your correct mind, you will still transform and someone might notice," he said. "For your first transformation and your first transformation only, we're going to be showing you to a place called the Shrieking Shack. From here on out you are welcome to stay in my office during the full moon. But we think it best if you stay here just for your first transformation so you feel more comfortable."

Kim nodded though the honestly Shrieking Shack didn't sound like the coziest home. She followed Donovan and Silva to a big tree that looked like it had taken some serious damage of the year. Kim jumped when the tree actually shuttered and leaves came pouring down from it's branches.

"If you ever need to get past this tree touch the knot right here," said Donovan. "The tree was planted to attack anyone who approached it. It was actually planted here for the first Hogwarts student who was a werewolf but nowadays it just looks sick."

Donovan passed straight under the tree and began to dick under a particular root. He pointed his wand at it and all the dirt collapsed at once, leading into a long dark tunnel actual going under the tree.

"Before the full moon rises, you'll need to be down there," he said.

Kim swallowed hard, she hated dark, underground places and feared even more her transformation. She wasn't ready for this. Why couldn't she just wait one more month?


	13. Moon Rising

Chapter Thirteen: Moon Rising

Besides the entire girls dorm getting detention, this was the second time Kim had gotten detention and to top it all off, it was with her least favorite teacher, Professor Hayes. Kim wasn't use to being in trouble but while as she'd grown much respect for her wizarding skill with her teachers, they'd also grown use to associating her with Cherokee and Diamond so whenever they pulled a prank, Kim was often linked to the crime. Today was the worst of all days that Kim could get detention because it was the day she'd been dreading for an entire month, the full moon. It was after dinner, even though Kim hadn't been able to get anything down and she, Diamond, Cherokee and Leisel were all polishing teacups for the next day's transfiguration lesson.

"That's enough for now," sighed Professor Hayes. "I'll probably see you two again tomorrow," she said, eyeing Diamond and Cherokee.

"It's been a pleasure, Professor," said Cherokee as she slung her back over her shoulder.

The four girls walked around the outside of the castle back to the Slytherin common room when Kim realized with a jolt, how late it was. The sun was already going down. She reached into her robes and squeezed the final flask of wolfsbane potion with her hand. Every day she'd been forced to down a flask from Professor Silva and there was nothing close to the discomfort she felt when the liquid went down her throat. It was vile, more than vile, repulsive. The first time Kim had tried to swallow the thing, she'd spit it back up and Silva had been forced to brew her another. Now with only an hour left until dusk, Kim was skating on thin ice.

"I have to go visit Hagrid," she said, just as they were going to make the turn back into the castle.

"Who?" said Cherokee.

"Hagrid," said Kim. "I uh, asked if I could visit his hippogriff. I really like hippogriffs see so I might not be back until much later tonight."

"Ok then," Cherokee said and gave Kim a look. Then she flipped her hair and lead the other three away, leaving Kim to her own devices.

Kim was terrified, standing there alone. She wanted to just break down and have a panic attack but she knew she was still visible from some of the school windows, so she took off towards Hagrid's hut until she was just out of sight, switched directions and made it to the Whomping Willow. The great willow stared down at her from above and Kim jumped as a grey vine snaked out from it's branches and hit Kim on the head. Kim was about to sit down at the base of the tree and attempt to choke down her potion when another vine came down and struck her again. She heard an awful creaking noise and suddenly with a whoosh, a tree branch fell and nearly clonked her in the head if it wasn't for a mere foot.

It took three seconds for Kim to remember what she needed to do. She took off like a bolt of lightning and touched down on the right knot, just as another branch came barreling out of no where. The tree froze just as the branch was about to hit Kim. She exhaled slowly and looked around desperately for the tunnel Donovan had shown her. She located it and crept over to it, slowly lowering herself to the ground, careful to keep her robes as clean as possible. Unfortunately that didn't happen as she lost her footing and slid down the tunnel, quite a longs ways and landed in a dark room.

"Lumos," said Kim and the tip of her wand lit up the room.

Kim was terrified to see broken furniture everywhere, shredded wall paper, scorch marks even. The place was depressing with a capital 'D'. Kim took out her potion and uncorked the bottle. Blue smoke began oozing out and Kim was once again reminded of it's vulgar taste. She pinched her nose and downed the thing in one gulp. It was slightly better that way but still made Kim gag and retch. Now all that was left to do was hunker down and wait out the night.

Over in one corner was a piano, damaged far beyond repair. Kim sat down behind it and noticed something strange carved into the floor. Four names, Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. The same names Kim had recently seen a week ago when Liesel had discovered the Marauder's map. Was it possible that the marauders had been werewolves like herself? How else would they know about this secret passage? Then again, they could have just stumbled upon it and decided to carve their names into the floor. It seemed like something Cherokee would do.

Kim was tracing her finger in the 'M' of Money when suddenly she felt a jolt from inside. It was happening. She froze as her vision went slack and fixed somewhere off in the distance. Kim felt her breathing sharply increase and she wanted to scram but no sound came out. Her entire body began to shake as she began to lose all feeling in every corner of her body. It was like she was being drained of battery, very quickly. Sharp pain shot from her stomach as her insides started to fold in on themselves. More pain exploded in her head as she became taller and less humanlike. Kim's breaths were panicked now and she was having to fight to stay conscious. Her gums began to bleed as her teeth grew into fangs and Kim could let out one last, helpless howl before she could fight for control no longer. The wolfsbane potion hadn't worked.

The sickly looking beast darted around the deserted room, smashing into everything, howling at the wall and scratching at the door. It wanted to hunt, it wanted to kill something. As the hours raged on the beast grew so desperate it even began to inflict harm upon itself out of frustration. The beast howled and raged for many hours, throwing itself against the wall until it's back almost gave out. All it wanted was to hunt, all it wanted was to be outside. It would do anything to be free. As the hours on the clock began to run out the heart of the beast began to slow and it could find peace in sleep. Soon, the sun began to rise and the full moon began to slim.

Kim was conscious for a long time before she was able to move again. Every inch of her felt like it had endured a thousand flames. She was bleeding in a lot of places, she could feel it. It took her a long time to open her eyes but her only reason was to escape the monster that had taken over her head. Every time she blinked she did so with caution because she didn't want whatever had possessed her to be lurking there in the darkness again. That had ultimately been the most painful thing she'd ever felt in her life. Not the wounds and cuts, but the feeling of complete uncontrol.

It was a long time before Kim sat up. She had no idea what time it was seeing that she was underground. Her skin felt like it had been stretched out like a rubberband and then snapped back into place all of a sudden. She reached up to touch her face and found several cuts from where she must of scratched herself. Her forearm was deeply gashed, like she had bitten herself at one point and there was one claw mark that wraped down her stomach. Luckily Kim realized all the self inflicted injuries were very shallow and thin but they still needed bandaging.

Kim took off her already ripped white shirt and ripped it into even more strips. Very carefully she wrapped one around her arm, the only place that needed immediate attention. It was painful but when all the blood was covered, it made her feel a lot better. The rest of Kim's clothing was beyond repair but thankfully she'd remembered to take off her school robes and shoes so she would have something to wear out of here. Very stiffly she got up and wrapped it firmly around her stickly form. It's warmth gave her more comfort than anything right then.

Kim climbed to the tunnel and found a less steep path that lead back up to the Whomping Willow. She remembered to press the knot down before attempting to escape and was startled by the harsh sunlight from above. It was then that Kim realized how tired she was. She'd been awake for at least 24 hours now and hadn't eaten in a while either. Her appetite was finally starting to appeal again which she supposed was a good thing. Kim managed to pull herself back up to the empty Slytherin dormitories without getting caught which meant everyone was in class already. Just how much of the day Kim had missed, she didn't know.

Back in the dorm, Kim didn't know how to properly address a wound so she took a shower and hoped that helped. As she looked in the mirror the Kim she saw now had a fat cut under her lower eye as well as one down her other cheek. Kim did her best to address them but really there was no first aid in the Slytherin dormitory. She brushed the tangles out her hair and put on a new uniform but that was really all she could do to improve her physical appearance. What Kim really wanted to do then was just fall back into bed but the other Slytherins would find her later and think she was skipping class. For now she was just going to have to suck it up and come up with some pretty brilliant excuse for being gone all day.


	14. Waking

Chapter 14

Kim found the other girls again at lunch who were irate to see her show up with no explanation.

"You're so lucky you missed charms this morning," said Cherokee. "But seriously where were you and what happened to your face?"

"Yeah where were you?" repeated Leisel annoyingly.

"At Hagrid's," said Kim. "Uh, his hippogriff attacked me and I was in the infirmary all morning," she explained.

"Geeze, that stinks," said Cherokee. "Be glad you missed charms though. I would have rather been on a hospital bed than sitting through that lesson."

Kim doubted that was true but she was glad to take her seat back at the table and force Leisel to scoot over. That day she finally had a big meal with a lot of meat in it since Kim had been craving it ever since her transformation. She only made eye contact with Diamond once but in that second Kim knew Diamond understood the true origins of her cuts and pitied her. Kim sunk lower into her seat and didn't look up the rest of the meal.

It was Tuesday so Kim had defense against the dark arts next. She and the other three traveled together in a clump and so Professor Umbridge didn't notice Kim enter the classroom at first. The four of them sat in the back like they usually did but no one ever brought up the idea of pranking Umbridge. He was too well respected and Cherokee actually enjoyed his class as much as the others. They were the best in the class too, with the exception of Leisel.

Over the first month of the year Kim had realized that Cherokee was the first one to rise to the challenge of being in Slytherin house. She was ambitious and that ambition had somehow made everyone else around her think they were lesser than her. Cherokee was now somehow the ring master of the four of them, a natural born leader. She was also somehow as well known as James Potter to the first years but to those outside Slytherin house, she wasn't known for good things. Kim didn't mind having a leader, she certainly never felt like one but she'd rather the four of them be equal, or at least the three of them. She still didn't really know what Liesel was doing sticking around since all she ever did was annoy Kim.

"Can someone remind me what the term is for a three headed creature?" said Donovan and naturally Cherokee, Diamond and Kim all raised their hands at once.

"Yes miss King," he said but he happened to look over and see Kim's face and stopped dead. His face completely drained of color and some kids even turned around to see what he was looking at. "Oh," was all he could manage.

Leisel snickered loudly and Kim hid her face in her book until Donovan finished teaching the lesson. Then he swiftly came over to her desk and kneeled down so the others wouldn't hear him.

"Kim what happened? How did you get hurt? Why are you in school?" he asked all at once. "You look extremely sick, you need to rest."

Donovan was loading her with so many questions she almost didn't know how to respond. "I'm fine," was all she said through gritted teeth.

"You're not fine," Donovan said sternly. "Go back to your dorm right now and rest. You are excused from my class as well as from Professor Silva's, now go."

Kim knew she had no choice. Professor Umbridge's tone was so demanding and serious, almost as if he was scared for her. She picked up her books and left awkwardly as the entire class watched her exit the room. As soon as she was outside she was glad for having time to rest. She was completely wiped out and didn't think she would have lasted that much longer anyway. As she got into bed she had no trouble falling asleep, that is until the nightmares began.

As soon as Kim was asleep her mind snapped back to when it was fighting for control with whatever that thing had been inside her. It was the weakest she'd ever felt, unable to fight even herself in a battle. She imagined what would have happened had Diamond been with her or if she'd been allowed to stay in Donovan's office that night. That would never happen now. She couldn't bare to let anyone look at her and if the potion was brewed incorrectly again, they might be put at risk. No matter what, Kim couldn't let what had happened to her ever happen to anyone else. Nobody deserved this kind of torture.

Kim felt something moving on her face and on instinct reached for her wand and grabbed at who ever was standing over her. It turned out to be only Liesel who had half drawn on a mustache with a marker.

"Leisel what is wrong with you?" Kim said, going to the sink to wipe off the mustache.

Leisel gave an annoying laugh. "What? It was funny," she said. "Plus it's payback for getting to snooze the whole day. I wish I was attacked by a hippogriff."

Kim was not in a good mood. She hadn't gotten enough sleep and she was just down right tired or Liesel always sticking around. Storming out of the girl's dormitory she ran straight into the head of house herself, Professor Silva. The potions professor gasped when she saw Kim's face and immediately dragged her aside and had her sit down.

"Donovan told me what happened," she said. "But I didn't' think-" she paused, "Your face," she exclaimed. "This is all my fault," she said miserably.

"I'm fine," said Kim in a flat tone. She was more focused on her nightmares and hating Leisel at the moment than anything else. Visions of her time as the beast in the Shrieking Shack were starting to come back to her and there was nothing she could do to block them out of her head. Once again she was rendered completely defenceless against her own mind.

"Donovan wants to talk to you," said Professor Silva. "I think he's waiting for you in his office."

Professor Umbridge's office was on the far west wing of the castle and quite amused Kim as they entered. Donovan had enchanted paper fish to swim around his office as if they were in a giant fishbowl. Immediately a school swam up to Kim and circled around her curiously.

"Kim," said Donovan as soon as they entered. "Tell us everything that happened."

Painfully, Kim recounted the events of the previous night, telling them about how the potion had failed to work and the beast had harmed her out of desperation. All the while, Professor Silva and Donovan exchanged meaningful glances.

"That sounds awful," said Professor Silva when Kim was finished.

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Yeah," she muttered.

"So the wolfsbane potion didn't work," said Donovan. "That can be highly catastrophic, are you sure you feel alright?"

Kim nodded though that was besides the fact that her skin still felt too tight on her and she was extremely exhausted. Oh and she'd also become a wolf less that 24 hours but other than that she felt brilliant.

"Kim I'm so sorry," said Professor Silva for the millionth time. "It's a very complex potion. I didn't think I could do it but I gave it a shot."

"Emanuel, what do you mean?" said Donovan. "I thought you said you'd brewed wolfsbane potion before."

Professor Silva looked guilty. "I just wanted you to think we had everything under control," she said.

"This is not something we can just play around with," Donovan said sternly. "Wolfsbane potion is life threatening should it be consumed and brewed incorrectly. I can't believe you would give that to a child if you weren't completely sure it was safe."

Professor Silva's jaw dropped a little bit as shock registered on her face. "Deadly?" she whispered.

Donovan buried his face in his hands. "Ema I can't allow you to brew this again," he said. "Kim, I'm so sorry this happened. We'll find someone else to brew you a wolfsbane potion but that will take time since we need to do it as discreetly as possible."

Kim's muscles tightened vigorously as she imagined another month going by as that creature. She would eventually run out of valid excuses and then everyone would know what she was.


	15. The Boggart pt 1

Authors Note: Thanks again to writingchild and MissesE for the continued support as well as to anyone else who's taken the time to read this far!

Chapter 15

Kim awoke the next morning with a searing pain in her arms but couldn't see anything as it was still dark inside the dormitory. She got up, dragged her robes out of her trunk and headed to the bathroom where she could turn on the lights. Kim gasped as the launturn revealed black, bulging veins sticking out of her arms like tree roots. She looked in the mirror to see the cuts on her face already scarring over but her eyes looked even older than they had the day before. Her golden blonde hair was starting to be streaked with flecks of brown and her roots had become much darker in such a short period of time.

Her arms were disgusting and the were sore to the touch. This had to be the effects of Professor Silva's failed wolfsbane potion and Kim feared to think what else it could do. Donovan had said it could have killed her, had it been a delayed effect? She put on her wizarding robes which thankfully covered her arms but every time she moved them they would brush against the bulging black veins. Kim pulled her hair into a bun and thought about using a whole lot of concealer to cover the cuts on her face but decided it would hurt to much and only prolong the healing process.

At breakfast news spread quickly about flying lessons starting soon after school. Cherokee seemed very eager to sign up because she was a huge quidditch fan which was kind of like a sports team for wizards Kim soon learned. Flying lessons sounded fun to her as well so the four girls signed up before classes started for the day. Thankfully the girls didn't have transfiguration that day because Kim wasn't up to another round of pranks.

"Hey mudblood!" Cherokee called to someone who was walking behind Kim.

Kim turned around to see Edmund and Coco stop and turn to face Cherokee.

"Just ignore them," said Coco to Edmund who was starting to go red in the face.

Cherokee and the others started laughing as the Ravenclaws walked away but they both gave Kim a hurt look. Kim sunk even lower in her seat and tried to focus on eating her cereal. Suddenly soggy Wizard Wheats started to look very appetizing.

What seemed like a regular school day ranged on pathetically to Cherokee and Diamond until they had Defence Against the Dark arts with the Gryffindors on Wednesdays. Donovan was there as usual but he seemed very pleased about something that he wouldn't talk about until everyone was in the classroom.

"Ladies and Gentlemen I want you to give a warm welcome to someone very skilled in the defence against the dark arts," said Donovan as soon as he had everyone's attention. "You could say he's the best at it in the world as he is head of the auror office." he cuckled. Suddenly Kim heard a moan from a few rows ahead of her where James was sitting. "He's come here today to give you all a lecture on your next unit. Everyone meet Mr. Harry Potter."

A man who Kim hadn't noticed when she'd come in then peeled himself off the back wall and walked to the front of the classroom, not before ruffling the messy black hair on James's head. They looked very much alike, Kim realized, they had each other's eyes.

"Hello there," said Mr. Potter. "I'm very happy I get to teach you all today," he said. "As Professor Umbridge explained already, I work for the ministry of magic as an auror. Does anyone know what an auror is?" he asked. "Yes, miss?"

"Cherokee," Cherokee said. "An auror is someone who tracks down dark wizards," she said with a smile. She was obviously just as excited as the rest of the class with the exception of James to be having the famous Harry Potter in their classroom

"Good," said Harry. "I also teach occasional lectures at Hogwarts so you might be seeing some more of me around here."

James groaned and Harry grinned at him.

"Today I've picked out something I studied in my third year at Hogwarts but Professor Umbridge told me this was quite the advanced class so I think you all can handle it," said Harry and he glanced at his son.

There was a cheer from the classroom and Professor Potter had them all travel over to the open section of the classroom where there was a large wardrobe that was shaking violently.

"I heard you all have been studying Sirens," said Harry and the classroom murmured yeses and such. "Good so today we're going to experiment with the opposite of a Siren. I believe that was in Chapter 6 of your notes. Can someone tell me what that creature is?" he asked.

Kim raised her hand. "A boggart?" she said, remembering Coco explain them to their class last month.

"That is correct," said Harry. "Five points to-" Kim moved out from behind someone so Professor Potter could see her tie. "Five points to Slytherin," he said and quickly darted his gaze away.

"Have you all studied the riddikulus charm at all?" he asked and the class responded.

They had learned lots of spells to repel creatures that could transform. After all, transformation was the overall topic of the semester. Everyone was excited to actually try the spell out on a real boggart.

"Good," said Professor Potter. "Form a line."

Kim was nervous, she never thought she'd have to face her worst fear. Sirens were fine because they showed her something she liked, but boggarts, there was no telling what would jump out at her. As Kim watched the wardrobe shake back in forth she imagined the same was happening to her as she was suddenly very cold.

Cherokee pushed herself to as close to the front as possible and made room for the other three to join her. She didn't dare push past James and his friends though in case Harry Potter was watching. James's father then took out his wand and pointed it at the wardrobe. He uttered something and there was a loud click as the lock was opened.

"Step forward and wand out," he told his son as he was the head of the line.

James took a nervous step forward as something dark and black began to shift from inside the wardrobe. Then all of a sudden out sprung a large snake.

"Riddikulus," shouted James before anyone could laugh and the snake suddenly twisted itself into the shape of a soft pretzel.

"Good," said Professor Potter and patted his son on the back as he made his way to the back of the line.

"Riddikulus!" shouted the next person as a creepy clown grew a giant mustache.

What Kim was seeing scared her and those where other people's worst fears, not her own. By the time Cherokee got up to the front of the line, her heart was hammering in her chest and sending throbbing pains through her arms. Kim didn't even know if she would be able to hold a wand.

Cherokee stepped up to the zombie that had been forced to dance the disco by the previous student and took out her wand. The zombie shifted until it became a gruff looking man Kim didn't recognize who was holding a great big machine gun. Some of the wizards didn't even recognize what the gun was as wizards didn't use them but Kim did and gasped. Cherokee yelled riddikulus and the man's clothes grew into a dress. Then she turned abruptly to the back of the line without saying a word.

Diamond was up next she stood bravely before the boggart, wand in hand as if began to transform. Suddenly there was a growl and a giant black dog appeared, snarling and drooling all over the floor. Diamond screamed but kept her wand in her trembling hand. Kim heard panicked whispers exchange throughout the students. All of them were whispering something about 'the grim'. Even Professor Potter looked astonished.

"Riddikulus," Diamond shouted shakily and the massive dog shrunk into a little labrador puppy.

Kim felt her stomach clench as she stepped forward. The cute little pup began to rise and in a whirl it had successfully become what Kim truly feared the most, a full moon. There were some snickers throughout the other students because to them the full moon could look like anything but Kim knew what that silvery disk meant and she feared it. She took a shaky step backwards, breathing hard now but that only received more giggles from her peers.

"Come on now you can do it," said Harry. He was staring intently at Kim now, his focus split between her and Diamond who was now at the back. With a jolt Kim realized he knew what her boggart was. He worked for the ministry in an office made for locking away dark wizards. Would Harry lock her away if he knew what she was?

"Riddikulus," she managed to choke out but nothing happened. "Riddikulus," she shouted again.

Kim could feel something tightening its grip on her arms every time she failed to cast a spell. It was almost as if the blackness in her veins was growing. She looked up one more time at the full moon, praying for it to go away but there was nothing she could do. Kim felt her knees buckle below her and wished she'd hadn't chosen to face a boggart.


	16. The Boggart pt 2

Author's Note: (READ ME) Okay so I had some spare time this weekend and I came up with a list of actors I would cast as the characters in my story :) (If they were all still 11) Here's the list, but please ***type in all the words provided*** after the character's name. Some of the actors are grown up now and I'm talking about a specific movie they were in when they were the right age to play my character.

Kim: Isabelle Allen Cosette

Cherokee: Tiffany Espensen 2010

Liesel: Dakota Blue Richards The Golden Compass

Edmund: Joseph Darcy-Alden

Coco: Raffey Cassidy Snow White

Possibly more cast later, but for now, back to the story!

Chapter 16

Harry stepped in front of Kim and held out his wand. The image of the moon shifted and changed into a horrible creature in a black hood with no face. Very slowly, all the happiness began to drain from Kim's mind. She had an all too clear flashback to the night of the infection. Kim felt cold and alone even the thought of ever becoming happy again didn't occur to her. The entire room screamed in terror but Professor Potter stood his ground.

"Expecto Patronum!" shouted Harry.

A silver stag erupted from the tip of his wand and charged at the creature, driving it back into the wardrobe. There was a great sigh of relief the the class but Kim, who was on the floor now, was not okay. She'd been closest to the creature besides Harry and all she could picture were the eyes of the wolf who'd infected her. Her arms were searing with pain and throbbing now with her quickened pulse.

"You okay there?" asked Professor Potter offering a hand.

Kim reached out to grab it but fell down again as her arms seemed to tighten with every move she made. Some of the Gryffindors laughed but right then, Kim could care less.

"Let me help you," said Harry. "Class why don't you go sit down. Professor Umbridge if you don't mind having them start Chapter 7 without me."

"Not at all," said Donovan but it was obvious he would rather help Kim right then.

Harry enchanted a bench to fly over and helped Kim onto it but she seemed unable to use her arms at all.

"Can you move alright?" asked Harry.

Kim shook her head. She just wanted to hide somewhere and have everyone leave her alone, except for Donovan, she needed him. Donovan was here he just wasn't helping her. Kim couldn't trust Harry Potter, he could drag her off to the ministry if he knew what she was. But then again, Kim would do just about anything right then to get rid of the bonds that were tightened around her arms. She needed Donovan to come over so she could show him, maybe he could help.

"What's your name then?" Harry said. "You know mine right?"

Kim nodded. "I'm Kim," she said softly.

"Kim," repeated Harry. "It's nice to meet you Kim. Everything's going to be alright."

Kim felt like Harry was treating her like a child. She didn't want to be treated like a child, she needed help. Wolfsbane potion was deadly. The black veins on her arms could be killing her right now and Harry just thought she'd been spooked by the scary hooded creature which was true, but she could cope with that on her own.

"Here," said Harry. He pulled out a bar of chocolate hand handed Kim a piece. "Eat this, it will help."

Kim tried to hold the chocolate in her hands but her arms forced her to drop it. They were shaking so badly. Harry picked up the chocolate and tried to be comforting by putting his hand on Kim's arm but it made her cry out in pain. He must have noticed something too about the contour of her arm because he suddenly scooted forward on the bench.

"Kim is there something wrong with your arms?" he asked, his brow furrowed. "Let me take a look. Trust me I can help."

Kim, now in so much pain she was ready to give up, slid her school robe off, rolled up her sleeves and saw with horrifying shock, how big, purple and bulging the black veins on her arms had become. Harry seemed to register the shock as well but didn't let himself look too worried.

"How did it happen?" he asked.

"Took a bad potion," said Kim quietly.

Harry studied her arms carefully. "What potion?" he asked.

Kim met his eye and then quickly looked away.

"It's probably best if you guess sir," she said, not even wanted to discuss her condition out loud.

"Wolfsbane?" Harry whispered. "I saw your boggart," he explained. "I had a professor once, greatest defence against the dark arts Professor I ever had, and I had a lot. He was like you, lived as one since he was a very young."

Kim tried to imagine already living as a werewolf for many years. Even the thought of it frightened her.

"Let's bring you to the dungeon," said Harry kindly. "I'm sure the potions professor will be able to fix this."

"Can't," panted Kim. "She doesn't know how."

Kim felt pathetic, acting so weak in front of Harry Potter himself. She wanted to impress him, show him she was stronger than whatever was coursing through her veins.

Harry took of his glasses and wiped them. "I think I might know someone else who can help," he said.

Professor Potter stood up. "It's probably best if I travel alone," he said. "Only because I don't want your arms to be put under any more stress. I'm going to visit an old professor of mine. He retired from teaching here last year and I believe he might still be up for the challenge." Then he sat back down and lowered his voice. "I understand what things can be like for you," he said. "But there are always people out there willing to help."

Then Harry Potter was gone. There were groans from the class and a cheer from James as Harry Potter appeared back in the classroom and told them all he would have to postpone their lesson. Kim, with whatever strength she had left, put on her robe again and headed back to the desks where she sat next to Diamond. All was not well there either, she realized. Diamond was crying and Cherokee was desperately trying to comfort her.

"What happened?" asked Kim.

Liesel gave her an irritated look. "Did you not see her boggart?" she said. "Diamond has seen the grim!"

"What's the grim?" Kim asked quickly and flinched as now Cherokee fixed her with a glare as well.

"The grim is an omen, obviously," she said. "It's the worst omen you can get. It means you are going to die."

Kim sucked in a breath and Diamond exploded in a new fit of tears. The entire class was in chaos, no one was sitting still or even paying attention to Professor Umbridge. Even Donovan was off topic and distraught. While Kim had been off in her own little world, the entire class had been betting on when and how her friend Diamond would die.

"I can't believe my dad messed up the entire class," said James irritably. "Thanks a lot dad."

Before long class was over and Harry Potter still hadn't returned from where ever he had set off to. The Slytherins had History of Magic which was the most boring class in existence because it was taught by an old ghost by the name of Professor Bins. Since Professor Binns had already died there was no way they could ever get rid of him, so year after year, he slaved at the chalkboard, repeating his lessons in his sleep. Today however, Cherokee and Liesel weren't shooting spitballs at him or faking bloody noses to get out of class. The four girls sat silently in the back of the class and pretended to pay attention for Diamond's sake. It would be hard for her since news of the grim was spreading quickly throughout the castle and Diamond was starting to get a lot of haunting looks.

After school they four girls decided to cheer Diamond up by taking her to watch the quidditch try outs. Quidditch was a game played on broomsticks involving three goal posts on either sides of the stadium and a few, unique looking balls. Never in the history of the Hogwarts team had there been a first year selected to play for Slytherin because they weren't encouraged to try out. Cherokee seemed irate about this and picked apart everyone's performance, explaining how she could do it better. Apparently the best position on the team was called 'Seeker', and it was the only position Cherokee requested to play.

It was much later in the day that Harry Potter returned to Hogwarts. He found Kim sitting with Diamond and the others at dinner and handed Kim a glass vial without saying a word. Kim noticed the colored liquid sloshing around inside and immediately got up to use the loo. Uncorking the bottle, she downed the liquid in just one swig, barely able to contain it within her fingers for more than a second. The potion tasted fine, unlike the wolfsbane potion and like a miracle the veins in her arms began to deflate until they were just black lines sketched across her arms.

Kim returned to the table to thank Harry Potter but found he was gone along with Diamond. He'd taken her aside to talk to according to Liesel who sounded jealous.

"I wish I'd gotten a death omen," she complained.

Kim shook her head and sighed. She peered over and saw Diamond talking to Harry Potter over on the side. The expression on her face was grim.


	17. Halloween Heist

Chapter 17

"You guys I have to tell you something," Cherokee said fearfully, later that night in the common room. The four girls were settled around the fire and once again, the topic of the boggart had been brought up. "I'm a half blood."

Liesel gasped and Kim pretended to be shocked by this.

"I know," said Cherokee mournfully. "You all have to promise you won't tell anyone. It's my dad, he's a hunter."

"Was that him the boggart changed into?" asked Kim.

Cherokee buried her face in her hands but shook her head. "He's terrifying," she said in a shrill voice. "He hunts stag and hangs them on the wall like pictures. Our backyard is littered with piles antlers from the stag he's killed. It's horrifying."

Diamond rubbed her back. "It's okay," she said. "Half blood isn't so bad."

"I feel like such a mudblood," Cherokee said wiping her nose. "But if anyone else asks I'm definitely pureblood."

The other three nodded vigorously.

"What was your boggart then?" asked Liesel to Kim. "Are you afraid of disco balls of something?"

Kim sat back in her seat and wished for a second that Liesel would just disappear. "I er, I don't really know," she said. "Something about it was just really frightening."

"I think I know what it was," said Diamond.

Kim sat up and made eye contact with her. She wouldn't would she? Diamond was the only one of the four of them that knew her secret.

"You're afraid of the future," she said. "Your boggart was obviously a crystal ball and crystal balls tell the future. It's nothing to be ashamed of, it's actually really clever."

Kim felt relief wash over her. That had been a very scary few seconds.

"Yeah, you're right," she said and tried to act like it had been something she was hiding. "I do get a little freaked when I think about the future sometimes."

Fly lessons started up and Kim soon discovered her new favorite pastime. The first time she got on a broom she'd fallen off of it after getting several feet in the air but after a few tries she was almost as good as some of the other witches who had practiced on their brooms at home. Cherokee was amazing and by far the best in the class. She could go even higher than the top of the Hogwarts tower even though the flying coach restricted going beyond that point. Kim and the other girls looked on with envy as she did a loop in the middle of the air and came down again one day. Everyone agreed she should be put on the quidditch team one day.

At lunch one day Professor ALexandria climbed the podium with an important announcement.

"Attention all Hogwarts students," she said and the chatter of the dining hall came to a trickling silence. "Harry Potter has been hereby banned from visiting Hogwarts due to the fact that he was caught smuggling an unregistered potion to one of our students here."

There was an immediate outroar among the students and even some of the teachers stood up in anger but were unable to say much. Kim felt her stomach clench, this was all her fault. Now he'd be unable to bring her a wolfsbane potion at the end of the month but who had ratted? He'd hardly spoken a word on his return visit to Hogwarts and the only people who had seen him were the three girls she sat with now. Panic rose in her chest the fact dawned on her, it was going to be another month with no remedy.

A few weeks into October Kim and her friends attended their first quidditch match. Slytherin vs Hufflepuff. The October air was getting chillier so the girls put on their green scarves to show support for their house as well. It took a while for Kim to understand the game. There were two beaters, three chasers, some kind of goalie and then of course the desired position of the seeker. The seeker seemed to have control of the game, they decided when it ended after all. Slytherin's seeker was a thin, redheaded girl nicknamed Sketch. She spent most of the game searching for the little gold ball she had to find so Kim found her a bit dull.

"Cotton whims, cotton whims, anyone want cotton whims?" chanted a fourth year girl who was carrying a display of a swirling treat that reminded Kim of cotton candy.

"Over here," said Cherokee and waved the girl over. Cherokee bought two bags of the stuff so that the four girls could split it. Kim ended up having to share with Liesel who was resolute about holding onto the bag so Kim was given very little.

Slytherin ended up winning the match in a very exciting turn of events. Both seekers flew up into the sky, having caught sight of the snitch and both dived down again with the golden filtering ball lodged in Sketch's hand. There was a great roar of cheers from the Slytherins and Cherokee stood up, screaming at the top of her lungs in approval. Sketch stood at the bottom of the pitch, waving the snitch in the air and grinning wickedly.

"That Sketch girl isn't half bad," said Cherokee, on their way back to the dungeons.

There was a big party in the Slytherin common room that night that Kim didn't really take part in. She was more nervous about it being a week from the October moon and she still hadn't taken any Wolfsbane potion. The potion needed to be taken consecutively for a week before the moon or it wouldn't work. With Harry Potter being gone and no one else to turn to, Kim didn't know what she would do. Even Donovan had stopped speaking to Kim after class and had recently been disappearing off campus a lot lately.

While the third years and older were all buzzing about the first trip to Hogsmeade approaching, the only thing the first and second years had to look forward to on Halloween was the feast. With Halloween quickly approaching there was news of another break out in Azkaban the wizard prison. Lycaon's accomplice, Rhea Silvia. Surprisingly, this gave the students of Hogwarts a little relief to know that Lycaon was no where near Hogwarts but some of them still feared he and Rhea would make their way over.

Rhea, according to Cherokee was an insane witch and use to be a world famous for her potion making before she went rouge. She was a werewolf like Lycaon and was often affiliated with Bellatrix Lestrange another dark witch as being very similar in the head. Some people rumored that they were even related but Cherokee figured that couldn't be true. Kim saw a picture of her on the cover of the daily prophet with wild white hair and almost no color in her white eyes. Rumors said that she was blind but that she had excellent hearing. Her whole body was sort of lupin, hunched over and outwards. She'd been put in Azkaban before for crimes of spreading Lykonism, one of the worst crimes to be accused of.

Kim quite liked having the castle to herself when all of the other students left for Hogsmeade. There were a lot fewer people in the common room and so she could relax in whatever chair she pleased. Still, it has hard to relax when her stomach was all jumpy, the full moon was happening again, tonight. However, relaxing wasn't what the other three girls had in mind.

"We solemnly swear we are up to no good," Cherokee said after pulling out the marauder's map again.

Kim had almost forgotten about the map and wished the other three would forget it too. She couldn't be caught in detention again on a night like this.

"Look there's Hayes," Liesel said pointing to a pair of footprints on the map. "My brother sent me this the other day, we've just got to use it."

Liesel pulled out a round, metal object with a fuse sticking out of it.

"Is that a stink bomb?" Diamond asked curiously.

"Better," Liesel said, her eyes glinting. "It's a Weasley Wizzbomb, explodes like fireworks inside. It's totally worth a laugh."

"Brilliant," said Cherokee, let's go.

She rolled up the map and tucked it under her robe. Kim reluctantly followed the others outside of the Slytherin entrance and back up to the main hallway.

"Get down," Cherokee said and they all ducked behind a great stone gargoyle.

Cherokee put her finger to her lips and grinned cunningly. Peeking her head out, Kim just in time to see Professor Hayes do her funny little toe heel walk and her green robes swish back and forth as she walked. Cherokee motioned for Liesel to hand her the Wizzbomb and she did. Then Cherokee proceeded to take out her wand, mutter something and the fuse was lit. She counted down on her fingers, three... two... one...

The bomb was tossed into the air and the girls made a run for it. They heard a crack and a terrified scream from Professor Hayes as the sparks began to explode around her. Cherokee and the other girls began to laugh shrilly and since the bomb created so much smoke, they were completely concealed. That's why when a hand clamped down on Cherokee's shoulder she was taken completely by surprise.

"I've had it with you four!" Professor Hayes roared. "Detention all of you, tonight!" she exclaimed.

"What will you be having us clean this time?" Cherokee asked casually.

Professor Hayes fixed her beady little eyes on the four of them and Kim saw her pupils dilate. "No cleaning tonight. I'll have Filch take you out into the forbidden forest tonight for a real, good old fashion punishment. Won't have to worry about anymore werewolves now will we?" she said furiously. "Report to my classroom at 8, no exceptions."


	18. Intrusion

Chapter 18

Just then to Kim's great relief, Donovan came strolling down the hall. He looked older, more tired too and Kim realized she hadn't seen him since his lesson on Wednesday.

"I'm sorry Hecate I couldn't help but overhear," said Donovan as he approached them. "Is it true that you are issuing these four first years detention on Halloween night?"

Professor Hayes's usually kind looking face had morphed into that of a mean old bulldog.

"Have you seen what these children can do?" she exclaimed. "They deserve worse than the forbidden forest. I'd have them all hang by their ankles if I could."

"I'm very sorry but I might have to ask a small favor," said Donovan thoughtfully. "You see Miss Banks already owes me a detention at the same time you have requested and I simply cannot do without her tonight. Is there anyway you'd let her off for now and she can pay you back another time?"

Professor Hayes looked at Kim and studied her closely. Finally she looked away. "Fine," she said. "Kim will come to me for detention tomorrow evening but the rest of you are not off the hook."

As the teachers walked away, Kim tried to make eye contact with Donovan so she could say thank you but he swiftly moved to avoid her which made her feel as if she'd really upset him somehow.

"When did you get detention with Umbridge?" Liesel asked incredulously as they walked back to the common room.

The Halloween feast was spectacular. Kim spotted hundreds of orange jack o'lanterns hanging above the dining hall and the ceiling was enchanted to look like the autumn sky. All around them there were people buzzing about Hogsmeade, Honeydukes, Zonkos and the Shrieking Shack which apparently had become haunted again. Last month villagers heard the sound of screaming once more coming from the rotting villa.

Kim kept a close watch on the night sky as it was starting to get dark. Her fingers drummed nervously on the underside of the bench which eventually drove Liesel mad.

"Would you quit that?" said Liesel irritably.

"Sorry," muttered Kim as she took a bite of soft pumpkin paste cake.

Cherokee, Diamond and Liesel all had to leave the feast early in order to report to Professor Hayes for detention. They all gave Kim longing glances and told her how they wished they could be in detention with Professor Umbridge instead. Kim was just grateful Donovan had come along when he did or else she'd be sunk. The only downside was having to sit around the dining hall with no one else to talk to.

Just as Kim was about to sneak outside, something happened. Terrified screams shot through the dining hall as the doors to the great hall burst open. All of the teachers lept to their feet looking alert and forced all the students against the back wall.

"It's them!" screamed a shrill second year, pointing to two long figures as the smoke cleared.

Sure enough Kim recognized the pair from the papers. This was Lycaon and Rhea Silvia, the two werewolves that had escaped Azkaban. Their frightening image alone was enough to scare Kim and everyone else back against the wall. Everyone had suddenly forgot about the dessert.

"You know what we want," Lycaon growled loudly as he marched forward. With a thrust of his hand the four tables split down the middle and flew against the wall causing more screams from the students.

"Give us the son of Merlin," the witch Rhea cackled.

Some of the teachers, including Donovan stepped forward with their wands out.

"We haven't come to fight," said Lycaon. "We've come to bargain."

"And what do you have that we would desire?" said Professor Alexandria, stepping forward bravely.

Rhea threw back her head and laughed. "It's not something you want dear. You see the full moon is out tonight and we have about thirty minutes before we transform. Give us the son of Merlin the great and we'll leave before nightfall. If not, well then it looks like Hogwarts is going to have a lot of unhappy parents."

Kim looked wildly around at the other students. She couldn't let what happened to her happen to them. In fact, if she couldn't figure out a way out of here, she might be the cause of some new werewolves.

"We don't know what you're talking about," said Professor Silva. "There is no child of Merlin within these walls. Merlin lived centuries ago, begone infected ones. Teachers," she called.

The Hogwarts staff all raised their wands in unison. It was mighty just to watch. All of a sudden the great hall was aglow with the light from hexes and jinxes coming from all over. Even

some of the older students had joined in the battle. Lycaon and Rhea backed up against the other wall and the students began to fill in the room, marching towards them in unison. Then with one grand gesture the pair made a dash for the exit sending the students into cheers. Still there was panic within the great hall.

"How on Earth did they get in?" everyone was muttering.

After all, there were spells to protect people from just waltzing into Hogwarts like that. It made it sound as if there was a double agent, like there was a traitor within Hogwarts. Some people considered going after them but Professor Alexandria quieted them, saying something around there already being something outside that would catch them. Then Kim remembered, Cherokee, Diamond and Liesel were all in the forbidden forest serving detention. They could be attacked by Lycaon and Rhea any minute.

With only fifteen minutes to spare, Kim darted outside the great hall and up to the front of the castle. There was no way she could warn them in time. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her into the forbidden forest and guessed at which way they had been brought. Kim realized that during the full moon she had a heightened sense of smell and could almost track the scent of her friends. That meant she was closer and closer to completely transforming. Still, she had to get to them before Lycaon and Rhea did.

"Kim?" said a voice.

Kim whipped around, her heart hammering in her chest to see the three girls huddled in a group near a tree. She had never been so relieved to see them.

"There's been an attack on the castle," she panted. "Lycaon and Rhea. They were here."

The three girls gasped and Liesel dropped something that she was holding, a silvery scroll.

"Where's Professor Hayes?" Kim asked. "Or Filch?"

"They just left us here," said Cherokee. "Gave us a scroll, told us to bring it to the edge of the borders and then- just left us here."

Kim heard shouts coming from the distance and the four girls ducked behind a tree. It was them. Liesel tried to scream but Cherokee clamped a hand over her mouth. Just then Kim started to feel that familiar sadness wash over her. It was the same feeling she got when Harry's boggart had become a hooded black thing, like she'd never be happy again. Slowly she turned around and there drifting in the fog was a real live creature.

The four girls stayed very, very still as slowly, the creatures began to glide very quickly past them and towards the criminals. Kim's heart was beating very fast now and she could tell the other girls were just as scared. They heard horrified screams as they seemed to grab at the two figures in the dark and lift them above the trees to somewhere else. Finally after waiting a minute to be safe, each of them let out a deep breath and came out from behind the tree.

"What were those things?" Kim whispered.

"Dementors," said Cherokee. "They guard Azkaban prison. I can't believe we just saw them catch the two most wanted wizards. That's wicked cool."

Liesel flexed her shoulders. "I would have totally hexed them if they'd come a step closer," she said. "Almost thought the grim had caught up to Diamond already."

"Kim?" said a voice.

Kim whipped around to see Donovan breaking through the trees with a worried expression on his unshaven, tired face.

"Kim what are you doing here? I came to warn your friends about the attackers. You're almost out of-"

But it was too late, Kim was out of time.


	19. The Woe of Wormtail

AU: Hey guys, sorry I'm going to have to slow down on my posting because of school and stuff. 18 consecutive chapters was a lot so I'm going to slow down a bit, sorry to disappoint. Instead of every day I'll try every 2-3 days and see how that goes. Anyway enjoy chapter 19!

Chapter 19

Kim saw Donovan grab Cherokee and Liesel and jerk them behind him but it seemed to be that moment where everything clicked for Diamond. Kim's vision went slack she felt the thing entering her mind again. It was a full on battle for control once again only this time, she had to win. Kim couldn't let herself hurt her friends. Everyone she cared about was right here in front of her. Diamond ran up to Kim's already altering chest and what was left of Kim's mind screamed for her to back away but her body didn't react.

"Kim, listen to your heart. Kim your heart!" Diamond screamed. "You can do this, Kim, don't go."

"What's going on?" Kim heard Cherokee whimper.

"Get away from her Diamond," said Donovan's voice and Kim felt Diamond being pried from her arm.

Kim was losing all feeling in her body. Her head felt fuzzy like any minute she could just slip into unconsciousness. Pain was stretching through her limbs as they elongated and she wanted to let go so badly but she had to keep it together long enough for them to get away. Kim could no longer see but she heard a distant scream and the running of feet. Then blackness and she was gone.

Kim awoke feeling groggy and the worst she'd eve felt before. She was lying on a bed of dead leaves, her clothes completely shredded again and sunlight filtered down from above. Immediately she shot up, causing pain in her spine and trying to remember what had happened the night before. Had she infected one of her friends? All of her friends? Where were they now? Kim didn't even know if she'd be able to face them again even if they did make it away safely. They all probably thought she was a freak and had already spread her secret to the entire school.

There were the usual fresh cuts on her face and a few more on her chest but all and all, Kim was able to get back on her feet and groggily head back into the castle. This time she'd awoken a little earlier and as soon as she got back in the common room, fell straight into bed. Kim could care less about academics right then. The only thing that might wake her would be to see if her friends were alright but even that thought wasn't properly getting through her hazy mind.

A little later Kim woke up, feeling slightly better but still sick to her stomach. She grabbed a new uniform and put it on. She was getting a little worried because she only had two more fresh sets of school uniforms and only had two sets of robes to begin with so with one of them now shredded, this was her last chance. Kim looked in the mirror and with another month gone she looked sicker, paler, her eyes were sunken and her hair had gotten at least three shades darker. She touched her face where the new scars were and closed her eyes. Kim didn't like what this transformation was doing to her physical features.

At lunch Kim went down again but tried to avoid Diamond, Cherokee and Liesel. She'd let them approach her first but Kim sat down and immediately was greeted by her friends.

"Boy you look awful," said Liesel, taking a good look at her face. "Been to see Hagrid

again already?"

Kim was confused. "What happened?" she asked

The other three lowered their voices and leaned in closer to the table.

"We're fine," said Cherokee. "It was just a bit of a shock to us, or at least it was to Liesel and me." She glanced at Diamond. "Anyway, Professor Umbridge got us safely away and told us about you and stuff. Oh and don't worry, we haven't told anyone."

Kim felt a huge weight being lifted off her shoulders. Her friends were safe and as an added bonus they didn't care that she was infected.

"Are you coming to class looking like that?" Cherokee asked.

Kim shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah," she said. "If I miss too many classes Alexandria will get suspicious."

"Oh that's right," said Liesel. "She hates Lycanthropes doesn't she. Especially after Lycaon broke in last night everyone's been freaking out. Did you hear Yancy Bloom pretended to be infected this morning? Scared everyone to death but all she wanted was attention."

As Kim and the others walked to transfiguration she wondered why on earth someone would want to be bitten by a werewolf. Getting people's attention and becoming popular weren't things that equally balanced out the true experience of lycanthropy. It was beyond painful and embarrassing as well. All throughout class, Kim was getting flashbacks to her time as the beast, recovering piece by piece bits of information from when she wasn't herself. She saw her friends screaming and running away with Donovan by the time school was over she had all but recovered last night's events.

November brought colder weather and more homework for the first years. The teachers seemed to be getting tougher as the year went on and even Professor Silva, the kindest teacher was being harder on the students than usual. Kim was improving greatly in potions. Professor Silva said she belonged in a second year class and that she had the makings of a great potions master, but that wasn't the reason Kim worked so hard. She figured if no one else was capable, someday she would be able to brew her own wolfsbane potion once she was advanced enough. It had never even been attempted by a Hogwarts student before but Kim still had hope.

One day Kim, Diamond, Cherokee and Liesel were sitting in their usual hang out spot by the fire when the topic of Kim's November transformation came up. Immediately Kim began to feel uncomfortable.

"If only there was a way for us to keep you company before the moon," said Liesel.

Kim shook her head. "No way," she said. "It's way too dangerous."

"Wasn't there anyone else in this school that was like you?" said Cherokee. "Surely there had to be someone."

Kim pondered this for a moment. "There was Harry Potter's professor," she said, remembering her conversation with him. "He must have been a student here at some point."

"I wonder if he had friends who knew about his transformations," said Diamond.

Kim was about to shake her head when she remembered the four names etched into the floor of the shrieking shack, Moony, Wormtail Padfoot and Prongs, the same names on the marauder's map. Up until now she'd forgotten and before that she wasn't able to talk about it with her friends but now she wondered again if one or possibly all four might be like her.

"We could go to the library I guess," suggested Diamond. "Then we might be able to find

out who these people were."

Kim and the others spent hours searching in the library until they came across a book that had been staring them right in the face for the longest time.

"We've been searching too far back," Kim said, producing the book she'd found. "We

were looking through old book from generations before us. This one was published a few years ago and look," she pointed at a page.

The book was called 'The Dark Ages and a Hogwarts Hero' by Rita Skeeter. It was mainly about things that went on during the second wizarding war and had a lot to do with Harry Potter when he was a student at Hogwarts. One chapter was called 'The Woe of Wormtail' which immediately caught Kim's eye. She and the others flipped to the page and began to read.

'It was confirmed by sources that Peter Pettigrew was nicknamed

'Wormtail' for most of his life though our sources did not tell us by

who he was called this and for what purposes. It can be assumed that

since he was an agent of the dark lord, he was named this because of

his abilities as an animagus. No sources can confirm that the dark lord

knew of Pettigrew's animagus abilities.'

"What's an animagus?" said Liesel who finished reading last.

Kim, Diamond and Cherokee who were the most adept in their classes were completely stumped. They'd never heard the term before so they went back to searching material. It didn't take long for them several books on the matter.

"An animagus is a witch or wizard with the ability to transform themselves into any

specified animal," Cherokee read. "Not to be confused with Lycanthropy, in this case the wizards has a choice as to what animal they become and when they become this animal."

Kim felt her heart sink. The marauders couldn't have been like her if they had complete control over their transformations.

"Sounds fun," said Liesel.

"Be serious Liesel," said Diamond. "This makes perfect sense. I bet one of the four marauders was a werewolf and the other three became animagi to keep them company. Moony, it has to be him. Moony had three friends who accompanied him to the shrieking shack every full moon and helped him with his transformations."

"Then let's do it," said Cherokee.

"Do what?" asked Kim.

"We're going to become animagi," she said and the other three nodded protectively.


	20. Tea in the Library of Alexandria

Chapter 20 Tea in the Library of Alexandria

Kim thought her friends had gone completely mad. There was no possible way they could ever become animagi. First of all Kim learned it was illegal for underage wizards and even if you were old enough you had to register with the government. Second, it required more complicated magic than Kim had ever seen in her life. She didn't see why her friends would want to put themselves through all of the things they had to do. Even if her friends were some of the brightest witches in their classes, becoming animagi just seemed too far out of reach.

The November moon came earlier in the month and Kim had to spend many nights laying awake preparing for it. Besides lessons and in and out of the hallways every so often, Kim hardly ever saw Donovan anymore. It was like he was disappearing to somewhere but Kim couldn't figure out where. Professor Silva was no closer to brewing a successful wolfsbane potion than she was to mastering basic potions and Kim's appearance grew sicker still. Her blonde hair was becoming permanently brown and her skin had grown deathly white not to mention the fresh scars on her face were growing unwanted attention.

Diamond, Cherokee and Liesel helped Kim sneak out of the castle for her November transformation and helped her come up with valid excuses to tell the other kids. The transformation was painful as was expected but at least this time Kim remembered to wear robes that had been previously torn by the beast so that she woke up somewhere near the castle she wasn't in a very embarrassing predicament.

Kim decided to take it easy the rest of the day but was very quickly summoned by a little red letter that arrived by owl the next morning.

 _Dear Ms. Banks,_ read the letter

 _I regret to inform you that yesterday you were recorded as absent in all four of your classes. Skipping school is prohibited at Hogwarts and you are therefore required to pay me a visit in my office no later than 5:30._

 _Signed, Professor Alexandria_

Kim felt her stomach cave in. How could she be so stupid as to have let an entire day slip past her like that. Now she was facing the worst kind of consequence possible. She had to visit the headmistress herself.

After classes that day Kim had to get directions from a sixth year in order to find the office of the headmistress.

"The password is yellow gargoyles by the way," said the girl as Kim sped off down the hallway.

Professor Alexandria's office was guarded by a huge griffin statue and when Kim spoke the password it began to spiral upwards like stairs. As she reached the top, Kim felt her stomach snake into knots. Detention was a guarantee but what else would Professor Alexandria say about her inadequate performance? What if she sent an owl home to her parents or worse, suspected her true identity? Professor Alexandria might piece together her scars and sickly pallor and expose her right here and now.

The headmistress's office would have been quite a large space if it weren't for the dozens of bookshelves stacked against the walls. Professor Alexandria must really like to read because there were hundreds upon hundreds of books stacked everywhere even some on the floor and on her desk. It was like she had her own personal library. Kim treaded quietly into the room where the headmistress was sitting at her high desk, scribbling something on a piece of parchment.

"Ah, Kim," she said, looking up from her work. "Sit down please."

With the flick of her finger a chair flew through the air to sit opposite her at the table. Kim nervously took a seat across from her headmistress and tried to look anywhere but her deep gazing eyes.

"Tea?" asked Professor Alexandria, pouring herself a steaming cup.

"No thanks," Kim said meekly.

Professor Alexandria lifted the pot again. "I insist," she said and handed Kim the saucer.

Kim politely took the cup and managed a small sip before she noticed how intently Professor Alexandria was watching her. She must have misteped. Maybe she should have been more humble in refusing the drink.

"I trust you know why you're here," said Professor Alexandria. "Skipping classes is no small matter. It must be dealt with properly."

"I wasn't skipping!" Kim exclaimed immediately.

Professor Alexandria raised a pointed eyebrow.

"Then what were you doing?" she asked plainly.

Kim knew there was no way she could tell Professor Alexandria the truth. She was obviously prejudiced against people like her but she had to try something.

"I was visiting my grandmother," said Kim. "She's very ill and could be dying. My whole family was there. I had to leave immediately so I didn't have time to tell anyone."

"Is that so?" said Professor Alexandria. "Was it your mother's side or your father's?"

"Er, mother's," said Kim quickly.

Professor Alexandria took another sip of tea and put her cup back on it's sauser.

"That's funny," she said. "I don't recall Professor Umbridge missing any of his classes yesterday."

Kim was taken aback.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I don't follow," she said.

"Uncle Donovan?" said Professor Alexandria with a small smile. "Is that what you call him? You said your whole family was there."  
"Donovan's not my..." Kim trailed off.

Kim didn't know what Professor Alexandria was talking about. Donovan wasn't related to her. He would most definitely have told her that from the beginning. Plus, her parents were muggles. Unless Donovan had squib siblings like she did, it didn't really make sense. Or did it? Donovan must be a mudblood like her, but why didn't he tell Kim that he was her uncle? It didn't seem fair to her at all.

"Next time there's a family emergency let your head of house know," said Professor Alexandria. "You may leave."

Kim was shocked. "You're not going to punish me?" she asked.

The headmistress raised an eyebrow. "Would you like me to?"

"No ma'am," said Kim and she got up abruptly.

Relieved, Kim was about to leave the room when Professor Alexandria stopped her.

"You did like the tea didn't you?" she asked and Kim quickly turned around. "It's my absolute favorite concoction. I brew it with wolfsbane, did you know?"

Kim's gut tightened and her pulse sped up. Professor Alexandria was playing a game. She was on to her. Kim tried to relax and pretend the comment hadn't affected her at all.

"It was good, thank you," was all she said and promptly turned on her heels and left the office or in this case library of Professor Alexandria.


	21. The Disruptance at Dinner

Author's Note: Hey guys. So really bad news. It turns out I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my hand, making it really hard for me to type things on the keyboard. I have to wear a brace and stuff which is not fun. I hate to say this but chapters might be even slower than usual but I don't worry I'm not going to stop the story or put it on hold. I can still write, it's just a lot more difficult. Anyway enjoy Chapter 21!

Chapter 21

"That nasty little-" Cherokee began but Kim cut her off before she could go too far.

She had rushed straight from Professor Alexandria's office to tell the girls what had happened and had just gotten to the part where Professor Alexandria revealed what was in the tea.

"Do you think she knows?" Kim asked nervously.

"I think she suspects you," Diamond said wisely. "I don't know what wolfsbane werewolf when it's not brewed into a potion or even near the full moon."

"When Professor Silva tried to brew wolfsbane potion once it made the vein in my arms turn black and swell up," Kim explained as she and the other three nervously paced outside. Kim was worried something like that might happen again and this time she wouldn't have a world famous defense against the dark arts master to bail her out.

"I mean in this day and age wizards should be better informed about the spread of

lycanism," Cherokee said. "Professor Alexandria is one of those dim minded people who still think it can be passed on through physical contact. She'd probably disinfecting her entire study as we speak. No offense Kim."

Kim shuddered involuntarily which got the other's attention.

"You okay?" asked Liesel.

Kim nodded and rubbed the back of her neck which felt oddly cold. Suddenly Kim saw

Donovan's head above a sea of first years and ran towards him. It had been days since she'd seen him outside of class and maybe he'd be able to answer a few questions for her. Just then however Professor Silva appeared and reached Donovan before he spotted Kim. She looked a little distressed and for once second Kim was sure she saw Donovan slip his hand into hers but they were soon masked by a swarm of passing second years and Kim lost sight of the pair. That was odd, she pondered as she headed back towards the common room.

By dinner Kim was completely covered in goosebumps. She'd wrapped herself in as many warm clothes as possible without looking too suspicious. Kim couldn't believe her appetite, her plate was covered in meats of all sorts and she was tearing at them like a wolf. Thankfully she only sat with her friends and all of them politely ignored her strange new diet. Kim looked up and noticed Donovan sitting with Professor Silva at the head table and wondered again about what she'd seen in the courtyard earlier. She'd felt like she hadn't wanted to interrupt whatever they were talking about even though Professor Silva was one of the professors protecting her secret.

Kim was almost done with her meal when she felt something rising from her stomach. Immediately she took off towards the bathrooms, quickly followed by Diamond, Cherokee and Liesel. She made it halfway down the hall before her stomach caught up her her. She doubled over and coughed up chunky black slime that drooled onto the floor.

"That's disgusting," said Liesel, repulsed by the substance.

Kim didn't stop there though, she ran into the girl's bathroom, past Moaning Myrtle and right into one of the cubicles where she threw up again. Soon she heard footsteps outside and knew her friends had caught up with her.

"You okay?" they asked.

Kim could barely speak in between barfs but she managed to get a few words out.

"Please... clean up the first one... Headmistress... will have proof... if found."

There were a few seconds of silence and Kim imagined the three were drawing straws but Diamond eventually agreed to go clean it up before Filch discovered it.

For ten minutes of torture, Kim threw up non stop, then after that it began to slow down and she was able to come outside the cubicle.

"Look what you've done to my toilet!" Moaning Myrtle shrieked. "What did you eat for dinner you rotten pest?" she wailed.

"Wolfsbane poisoning?" Cherokee muttered softly.

Kim nodded and went to go rise her mouth out in the sink as Myrtle continued to moan dramatically.

"Wish I could hit that filthy mudblood with a good hex," muttered Cherokee to the girls.

Kim prayed that losing her stomach was the worst the wolfsbane could do to her. She and the girls headed back to the common room but Kim noticed Professor Silva wasn't there as usual.

"I bet she's with Professor Umbridge," said Leisel in a know it all sort of tone.

"What?" said Kim.

Cherokee giggled. "Like you haven't noticed," she said flipping her black hair back.

Kim didn't really follow but she didn't want to say anything that would make her look like a fool in front of Cherokee.

The girls finished their homework early that night, even transfiguration wasn't that hard. They sat around their usual hangout spot by the fire, talking, reveling in the thought that Christmas holidays weren't far away and soon it would be December. All the girls had plans to go home for the holidays except for Diamond whose parents was visiting America for the holiday and wouldn't be home.

"You're welcome at my home," said Kim upon hearing the news. "No one should be alone on Christmas."

Kim was delighted to hear Diamond approval of this plan though part of her was relieved. She needed Diamond there with her to help with her December transformation. That one would be tricky with her parents around and no Shrieking Shack. Kim even pondered the possibility of staying at Hogwarts just to be safe but to be truthful to herself she missed her parents and her siblings and didn't want to be away from them on Christmas. That night she wrote a letter to her mom seeking permission for Diamond to stay and sent it with Bellona who faithfully delivered her mail each day.

The next morning Kim received a quick response from her mother as well as a letter from her sister Emily. Her mother's letter was very long, mostly asking about how she was and how her grades were doing. When she got to the bottom she saw her mother had responded, 'Of course your friend can come. No one should be alone on the holidays.' Kim smiled and then opened the letter from Emily.

 _Dear Fishy Sticks,_

 _I know I haven't written to you all year but I just wanted to say that we really miss you at home. Incase you were wondering, they made me head of the football team at school. How's your school? Mom doesn't tell us much. I promise if you bring this up I'll deny it but I'm really looking forward to having you back around the house. It's hard having two brothers and no sister to back me up anymore. Looking forward to the holidays._

 _Best wishes,_

 _Emily_

Kim closed the letter and smiled contently, letting her shoulders relax. It was really good to hear from Emily. She'd almost forgotten how much she'd missed her siblings.

"Guys look it's snowing!" Diamond said, pointing excitedly to the enchanted sky.

Sure enough the four girls looked up to see little snow flurries flying in from above. It was the first snow of winter.


	22. Page 394

Update on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Not good. I think I'm developing it in my right hand as well as my left. The veins in my hands are swelling up sort of like Kim's earlier in the book. Did not plan this... :(

Chapter 22

Kim, Diamond, Cherokee and Liesel all agreed defence against the dark arts was hands down, the best class at Hogwarts. It was what they were best at with the exception of Liesel who wasn't really the good at any of their classes. Donovan stood by the door like he usually did at the beginning of every class and greeted every student as they entered the classroom but today he looked especially pale and tired looking. When Kim and her friends entered the classroom on regular days, Donovan always winked at them favorably but today he didn't even look at them. Instead he found a nice patch of wall to gaze at while Kim walked by.

"Welcome," he said stoically. "Get out your textbooks and turn to page 394."

Cherokee giggled at Professor Umbridge's new attitude once the girls were out of earshot but Kim was genuinely worried about him. After all, if he was her uncle that meant he was family.

"Don't laugh at him," said Coco who had surprisingly decided to take a seat nearby.

Kim hadn't talked to Coco in a long while. Not really talked at least since she'd almost revealed her secret to her in the dining hall.

"Has your little mudblood friend had enough of us?" sneered Cherokee.

Liesle cackled.

"Don't call him that," snapped Coco and even Edmund turned around, though he looked intimidated. "You shouldn't be getting so smart mouthed Cherokee," Coco continued. "We all know your little secret, halfblood."

Cherokee gasped and for once it seemed as if she couldn't come up with a comeback. Instead she turned to Kim and the other two girls.

"Which one of you spilled?" she demanded, eyebrows narrowed. "I didn't tell anyone but you three, now who was it?"

Kim didn't know who it was. It hadn't been her she was sure of that. Her eyes fell on Leisel whose gaze kept flickering to the floor.

"I'm sorry Cherokee!" she finally exclaimed. "I only told one person," she said.

Cherokee's eyes flashed and Kim had never seen her look so angry. Kim was suddenly very glad she wasn't Leisel at the moment.

"Who was it?" she demanded. "Tell me who it was Liesel or I swear-"

"James!" Leisel cried. "It was James. He said I could sit with him and his friends if I told him what your boggart meant. He was curious that's all. Please don't be mad at me Cherokee. Please don't be mad."

"You betrayed me Leisel," Cherokee said darkly. "Now the whole school knows I'm not pureblood. Do you know what this means? And to James Potter of all people. You should have been grateful that we let you be one of us. Diamond, Kim and I don't want you here anymore," she said, turning to the other two girls. "Go."  
Kim couldn't believe how much Cherokee had exploded over a little thing like blood status. If her friends knew she was muggle born there was no telling the pitfalls of popularity she'd be reduced to. Leisel on the other hand looked scared silly by Cherokee's response and very quickly picked up her bags and moved to a desk in the front of the classroom.

"That's page 394," Professor Umbridge said as he took his place at the front of the classroom.

Kim noticed his enchanted fish weren't flying around the classroom today which made the classroom look a lot less cool. Professor Umbridge took out his wand and dimmed the lights to that a white projection slide beamed from the back of the classroom only it came from nowhere. Suddenly the seething Cherokee let out a gasp as she opened the textbook.

"Miss Banks page 394," said Donovan, still refusing to make eye contact with her.

Kim hastened to take out her textbook and open to the right page. The whole class was waiting on her now. She flipped through and opened up onto a chapter about werewolves. Oh no, she thought.

"Professor Alexandria has thought it fit to excel our unit on transformations so that we cover more advanced creatures," said Donovan. "Can anyone tell me what the difference is between a werewolf and an animagus?"

Kim saw a hand raise in the front of the room and realized it was Liesel.

"I'm going to kill her," Cherokee muttered.

After all, the girls weren't suppose to know what animagi were since they'd begun researching them only to aid Kim in her transformations.

"An animagus is a witch or wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf has no choice," said Liesel, coping the book they'd researched almost verbatim.

"Good job Miss Cain," said Donovan. "I didn't expect any first years to get that question, but that's right. Five points to Slytherin."

"Cherokee maybe distancing Liesel was a bad idea," Kim whispered. "Just think if she'd spilled my secret instead of yours."

This only seemed to make Cherokee more upset. "My secret is just as big as yours," she hissed. "The whole school is going to mock me now."

"See a werewolf could be anyone," Donovan said as the slides rolled on the projection screen. "Once they're infected, there is no cure." A picture of a mangled corpse appeared on the screen and a werewolf above it. Donovan quickly turned the slide to the next one. "Professor Alexandria wants to have you all believe it's spread through contact, a handshake, a tap on the shoulder, even touching the same thing as an infected has recently touched. This is false. One can only be infected under very specific circumstances," Donovan said. "One, there must be a full moon present and two a fully transformed werewolf must actually bite you."

Diamond exchanged a meaningful glance with Kim but Kim quickly looked away. She didn't like learned about this. It made her feel like a freak that people would come to gawk at.

"I've been asked to assign you all two rolls of parchment on how to identify a werewolf to be turned in after Christmas holiday," said Donovan and he risked one quick glance at Kim. "Hope you all have a good holiday."

Kim couldn't believe her ears. Professor Alexandria was turning the whole year into werewolf hunters. If anyone bothered to really research their paper they might quickly identify the scars on her face or begin to notice that whenever Kim disappeared to visit her sick mother it always happened to be on the day of a full moon. She was packing up her bag in a rush when Professor Umbridge called her back.

"I'm sorry I had to do that," he said as soon as everyone had left.

Kim didn't respond. It was strange that now Donovan was actually paying attention to her after being so distant for such a long time. Finally she had to ask the burning question.

"You're not related to me are you?" Kim asked in the most innocent way possible.

Donovan looked away and stood up from where he was perched on his desk. He looked defeated and slightly ashamed of himself.

"Yes Kim, yes I am," said Donovan. "I'm your uncle, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it sooner."

"You're siblings were squibs weren't they," said Kim. "You're like me, the only magical one in the family."

Donovan looked surprised, like he was going to say something else but quickly changed his mind.

"That's true," he said wiping sweat from his brow with a white handkerchief he pulled from his vest pocket. "I haven't been able to visit my sister in a while because I've been working so intently in the magical world, it's hard to go back sometimes."

"But you'll come for Christmas dinner won't you?" Kim said hopefully.

Donovan smiled and his pale face suddenly looked young again. "Yes Kim, of course I'll be there. Maybe Professor Silva will come along if that's okay with your mom."


	23. Home for the Holidays

Author's Note: Thank you all for your concern about the CTS in my hand. It double stinks because I'm a ballerina as well. Do you guys do any extra curricular activities, fine arts and stuff? Just curious :)

Chapter 23

Kim loved Christmas time. There were choirs singing carols in the great hall, Christmas trees in every classroom, the scent of gingerbread was enchanted to waft through the castle and the teachers went extra easy on the students on the last day of classes. Kim was almost sure she'd seen Professor Hayes smile. The only bad part was having to leave Hogwarts. Packing was rough. Everyone was zooming around, hyped up on sugary winter treats and candy canes that made your tongue light up.

Most everyone boarded the Hogwarts Express that evening. Some of the teacher's gathered to wave goodbye to the students as they were headed off to their own vacations. Kim spotted Donovan and Professor Silva standing together in the cold and waved at them but they didn't see her. It would be another week before she got to see them again on Christmas. At least Diamond was coming home with her. Kim couldn't wait to introduce her family.

Someone came by and handed each of the girls a steaming cup of hot chocolate which instantly warmed them all up. Ever since Liesel had been outed from the group they'd become a lot quieter and Kim and Diamond didn't talk much when Cherokee wasn't around. Kim could tell she was still mad about what had happened the previous day thought didn't really notice it affecting her at all. Not one person had even commented about Cherokee's blood status since Liesel started the rumor.

Kim and Diamond both hugged Cherokee goodbye at the trainstation. She was wearing her blue winter coat and her white cheeks and snub nose were pink from having a cold all week.

"Happy holidays!" Kim called after her as Cherokee put her furry hood over her sleek black hair and walked away.

"Kim!" called a voice.

Kim and Diamond turned around to see Emily walking towards them at full speed. Emily, a sixth year at Dobe School for Girls was almost a foot taller than Kim and was very lanky for her age. She gave Kim a hug and smiled at Diamond. Soon Kim's parents, and her two older brothers caught up to them and more hugs were exchanged.

"We missed you," said Kim's mother. "And it's nice to meet you Diamond."

The Banks drove Kim and Diamond back home where they had set out a plate of chocolate chip cookies and warm milk. Kim couldn't believe how much she had missed home. Even her two brothers seemed pleased to have her home though they refused to show it. There was so many things Kim wanted to tell her family about but she stuck to the strict script Diamond and Cherokee had helped her develop on the train. She needed to create an entirely different backstory for her year at Hogwarts.

After a warm cup of tea, Kim and Diamond helped Ms. Banks wrap presents for Emily, John and Corbin. Kim was surprised by her lack of interest in the muggle toys and didn't even mind that Emily was getting the exact laptop she had been wishing for in the past.

"Excuse me," said Diamond a little later. "I need to use your bathroom."

"Down the hall to the left dear," said Ms. Banks.

Kim's mom waited just until Diamond turned the corner and then turned back to Kim.

"You're hair has gotten so much darker," said and tilted her face up to look into her worried brown eyes. "Kim, what happened to your face, did you get into fights with the other kids? And are you eating right? You look so underfed."

"I'm fine mom," Kim said, tearing her gaze away as well as scooting further apart on the couch. "Please don't make a fuss."

"Honey I'm worried about you," said Kim's mother. "You can't just come home and expect me not to question the obvious scars on your face. Where did you get them?"

Kim chewed her lip. "Why does it matter?"

"Kimberly," said her mother sternly. "If there are kids there who-"

"It's not kids," Kim exclaimed. "It was an accident," she said. "My friend's owl attacked me. I don't know why it just did. And I'm fine, they have plenty of food there."

Kim's mother still looked concerned. "If anything like that ever happens again, write me," she said. "I don't want an accident messing up your pretty face," she smiled.

Kim tried to smile back but she felt sick lying to her mom. She knew she would never understand being bitten by a werewolf but if she did, if she was like Diamond's mom or dad and knew what lycanthropy was, it wasn't something Kim would feel good about hiding.

After dinner Diamond, Emily and Kim all made cookies and the boys helped frost them. After that they all went outside and threw snowballs and Kim was able to text some of her friends from her old school on her phone again. It was weird being able to use technology again and it was even weirder seeing Diamond's reaction to it.

"So this is what muggles use to communicate!" Diamond exclaimed as Kim handed her the phone. It almost slipped out of her hand.

"Shh!" Kim put a finger to her lips. "Mum and Dad are in the next room. We don't want them to hear us talking about muggles."

"Right, sorry," said Diamond and she clicked the button to turn on the phone. "It's almost like magic," she said waving the cellular phone around.

The next morning the Bank's house was completely snowed in. Kim and Diamond awoke late that morning and had to fight Corbin for the last pancakes.

"Early bird gets the worm," Kim's mother reminded.

Kim and Diamond threw more snowballs and made snow angels in the back. Diamond looked so angelic where she lay as her hair the same color as the snow around them and her white coat only made her look more like a beautiful ice princess. Later in the day Kim's dad thought it would be fun to embarrass her and showed Diamond a bunch of Kim's old baby pictures and told a few of his fishing jokes. Over pot roast for dinner Kim's mother discussed their plans for the holiday.  
"So kids because we're snowed in, Grandma won't be here until until Christmas day because her flight was cancelled," said Mrs. Banks.

"Hooray!" shouted Corbin and Emily kicked him from underneath the table.

"Shut up," said said. "I was looking forward to showing her the piece I was working on."

Emily liked to knit with Kim's grandmother and she'd recently shown Kim the humongous scarf she'd been working on over the year. Kim's was a little disappointed too because she'd been looking forward to seeing her tomorrow and now she'd have to wait until next Wednesday.

"But on a good note, your uncle Donovan will be coming as well, we just received an owl, or er an email from him," said Mrs. Banks.

"Who's uncle Donovan?" asked John. "I don't think I've heard of him."

"My brother," said Mrs. Banks. "He's been away, traveling Greenland for a while so he

hasn't really been present in your lives yet per say. Although Kim, you of course know him. He teaches English at your school doesn't he?"

Kim looked up from her peas and nodded. She'd hoped she wouldn't have to pretend she'd only just met Donovan when he came to dinner.

"Good," said her mother. "I'll be asking him about your grades and I'd better hear good results. Only five days until Christmas now, we'll survive."


	24. The Black Pendant

Author's Note: I just realized I never told you guys something! I was going to wait until Kim got sorted into Slytherin and become a werewolf before I mentioned this but Kim was given the same kind of wand Draco Malfoy had because she was supposedly going through an internal struggle between the stereotypes of Slytherin, her friends pressuring her to make fun of people and of course lycanism. It was suppose to be a good an evil internal battle which I hope to do more with later in the book. I just wanted to throw that out there, incase you were wondering. Kim has a very similar wand to Draco Malfoy.

Chapter 24: The Black Pendant

After a quick Google search, Kim and Diamond discovered with a jolt that the December moon did indeed fall upon Christmas. This made Kim even more nervous because it was also the day her Grandmother arrived but at least Donovan would be there to protect her. She thought about trying to catch an early train back to Hogwarts but what would her mother think if she ran away right before Christmas? There would be so much explaining to do and she'd already helped plan out the Christmas feast.

Grandmother Alberta was greeted with lots of hugs from the whole family. She came in wearing a big coat as well as a huge winter hat that framed her short curly grey hair and pink, rosey cheeks.

"Hello Kim dear!" she said and gave Kim the biggest, squishiest hug of them all and kissed her cheek. "You must tell me all about school. And who is this?" she asked referring to Diamond.

"Hello," said Diamond shyly and Kim introduced the two.

"I'm glad to hear Kim is making friends at Hogwarts," she said.

Kim paused for a second and replayed this in her mind. There was no possible way her grandmother knew what Hogwarts was. Her parents told must have told her she was going to that arts school they'd seemed to of made up in their heads. Then a thought struck her, what if her grandmother was a witch all this time? It would make sense because Donovan was a wizard. Maybe her mother was the only squib in the family and they'd been hiding their magic from her this entire time. Kim suddenly looked at her grandmother with awe and respect. Then again, she could have gotten the name from anywhere.

"Mum can I talk to you in the kitchen really quick?" Kim heard her mother say and lead Grandmother Alberta away before she got a chance to catch up with her grandchildren.

A few hours later Donovan arrived, dressed in a his usual blue vest and long black trench coat with the collars turned up. He was accompanied by Professor Silva who had her curly brown hair pined up and her narrow nose was bright pink against her very light brown skin. Kim noticed the two were holding hands when she first opened the door.

"Hello Kim, Diamond," said Donovan cheerily. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas girls," said Professor Silva and smiled at Kim and Diamond.

Kim, Diamond and John helped Mrs. Banks bring out the courses including a huge stuffed turkey that had been baking all morning. There were so many people that needed to be seated, Mr. Banks had to bring in another table to fit the whole family. Finally, when all ten people were seated with Mrs. Banks on one end and Mr. Banks on the other they all said thanks and dug into the feast.

Kim and Diamond were sitting across from Grandmother Alberta who was known as one of the chattiest people Kim knew, but still one of her favorite.

"I see you've taken up the same post as my sister Delores, haven't you Donovan," said Kim's Grandmother.

Donovan who was cutting his turkey into smaller pieces looked up and smiled thinly. "Yes, it's been quite fun teaching Kim this year. She seemed to be excelling quite far in her English studies," he said.

"Wonderful, wonderful," said Grandmother Alberta, taking yet another helping of potatoes. "The students there never liked my sister, your aunt," she continued. "Do you like having your Uncle Donovan as a teacher there?" she asked Kim.

Kim only nodded because she had just taken a rather large bite of bread and hadn't chewed it at all.

"And I suppose we haven't met," Grandmother Alberta said, talking over Donovan to get to Professor Silva. "I'm Kim's grandmother."

"Emanuel Silva," said Professor Silva very softly. "I also teach at Kim and Diamond's school."

"Ah," said Kim's Grandmother. "I see."

Kim caught her wink at Donovan and his face caught bright red. He seemed to be intently staring at his peas now more than ever.

After dinner, the family moved into the living room where a great woody Christmas tree stood proud and tall. The lights flickered on and off and it reminded Kim of the floating lights on the Christmas trees at Hogwarts. Under the tree were what Corbin had been nagging about opening all day, presents. The Banks children rushed to the tree and immediately started to dish out the goods. Kim was handed a brightly wrapped purple package from Diamond and unwrapped it quickly. Inside was a stash of Weasly products for later pranks. She flashed Diamond a smiled and hid the presents away before anyone else could see them.

In return Kim had bought Diamond Slytherin green earmuffs because she'd noticed Diamond's ears got bright red in the cold. Kim received other presents such as a scarf from Emily, a cheap roll of duct tape from Corbin and John and a new purse from her parents. The most notable gift though was from her grandmother, wrapped in silver paper it was a beautiful, silver pendant with a black stone in the middle and the letter 'M' engraved upon it. Kim heard her mother gasp but when she looked around she looked like she was quickly trying to stifle it.

"I thought it was time you should have it," said Kim's grandmother. "It's a family heirloom passed down all the way from my great great grandfather Rodolphus Lestrange. The pendant is very valuable so don't misplace it."

Kim was in awe. She put on the pendant and pulled up her dirty blonde hair in a ponytail to show it off better.

"It's beautiful," she said and Diamond agreed. "Thank you."

Just then Bellona flew in and dropped a few letters in the laps of Kim and Diamond. They were from Cherokee and Liesel who still had the heart to write them after what she'd done. Cherokee had apparently gotten the newest broomstick and winter fashion and Liesel's parents had bought her a pet rat. 'Ew', was Diamond's only comment.

It wasn't until Emily distracted their mother and Kim's grandmother that Kim finally got to talk to Donovan alone without any risk of interruptions. The full moon was tonight after all.

"I do have a plan in mind," said Donovan before Kim could even confront him with the problem. "There's an empty house I know of a little out of the ways," he explained. "If we leave by five o'clock we should get there before the sun goes down."

"I hate that it has to happen on Christmas," Kim said, sliding down tiredly on the couch next to Donovan with her arms folded.

"I know Kim, I know," Donovan said. "And we'll figure out the Wolfsbane potion someday. Trust me, it will get better." He paused. "May I see your pendant?" he asked suddenly.

Kim was surprised so she took it off and handed it to him.

Just then there was a scream from the kitchen and both Kim and Donovan were on their feet without a second's delay. They both wiped out their wands instinctively but Kim quickly shoved her's away, remembering that even if this was a real emergency, she wasn't allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts.

"Stay here," said Donovan and he hurried into the kitchen.

Kim counted to three in her head before running after him.


	25. Donovan in Danger

Chapter 25 Donovan in Danger

"What's going on?" asked Diamond, seeming to arrive at the scene at the exact same time as Kim.

She had burst into the kitchen only to see her parents and her grandmother standing exactly where they should be but no Donovan. Her mother looked shaken and had fallen to the floor with her hand covering mouth in despair, a kitchen knife in her hand. Kim's father had taken more of aggressive stance a wielded a rubber, cooking spoon which he quickly put away. Her grandmother on the other hand was quickly hiding in her coat pocket whatever the first thing she had pulled out was and Kim failed to notice what it was.

"What happened mom?" said Emily, rushing to the scene only seconds behind followed quickly by John and Corbin.

"Where's Donovan?" Professor Silva called before she even reached the kitchen.

"Come on children let's go upstairs," said Grandmother Alberta who seemed to recover the quickest. She shot a glance at Kim who was the only one she didn't forcefully ussure up the stairs.

"Where is Uncle Donovan?" Kim asked when there was still no answer to Professor Silva's question.

"G-gone," said her mother, in a shaky voice.

Mr. Banks helped her to her feet. Kim had never seen her mother this scared before and it was more terrifying than a night alone in the forbidden forest under a full moon.

"What do you mean gone?" Kim asked desperately. "What was that scream?"

"Kim, your mother is very upset right now I don't think you should-" said her father but Mrs. Banks cut him off. She looked dead serious and looked at Kim with intention in her eyes.

"There was this man who came out of nowhere," she said in a very low tone. "He told us he'd been tracking our family. Then Donovan came and he was holding the necklace Gran gave you. The man took one look at it, grabbed Donovan and then disappeared into thin air."

Kim stumbled backwards and Diamond had to catch her. Professor Silva broke down into tears. What were they going to do with Donovan? Who had taken him? And with him gone there was no escape from tonight's full moon. Her entire family was in danger.

"Kim you and Diamond need to go upstairs," said her father as her mother started to cry again.

"No but I-" Kim said.

"Go!" said her father

"Dad I can't I-"

"Kimberly, GO NOW!" He shouted so loudly all the pigeons grazing in her front lawn suddenly flew off with a jump and just kept on flying.

Kim and Diamond ran upstairs. Trapped in her bedroom, Kim paced back and forth. Idea's running through her head, none of them any plans to save Donovan. Diamond was upset two and kept bouncing a ball against the ceiling which made an annoying sound.

"Would you quit that?" Kim snapped and the ball fell to the floor.

It was already five o'clock, the time that she and Donovan should be leaving and yet there was nothing here that could bring her safety. Kim had only one choice to protect her family. She would have to run away.

Kim began packing as Diamond tried to convince her out of doing it.

"You have a basement don't you?" she said. "We can just lock you in there for the night and everyone will still be okay."

"My family will hear my freaky wolf howls," Kim said. "I don't want them to know."

"Well that's not really a choice right now," said Diamond, a little louder than Kim had expected. "They're not going to just let you out of the house when a psycho kidnapped just broke into your house. I wouldn't be surprised if your grandmother has enchanted the entire house by now. There's no getting in, or out."

Kim sat back down on her bed and buried her face in her hands.

"At sundown you can lock me in the basement," she said quietly. "Just promise me you won't let me hurt them."

"I'll do whatever it takes," Diamond said.

The last few hours of Christmas went by quickly only it didn't feel like Christmas anymore. It felt more like a freakish nightmare gone haywire. A little later, Corbin asked if he could go play in the Christmas snow just one last time and Kim thought this was also a good idea because she'd be able to keep a better watch on the sky this way. She and Diamond went outside and played on the snow covered swing set, only they didn't really talk. They just watched the sky.

"What was that?" Kim said and she stood up abruptly from her swing.

She could have sworn she'd seen a flash of light from off in the forest. The Banks had a house where the backyard opened up into the piney woods. It was a place Emily use to take the other children exploring when they were a little younger. It was always fun because there was a little creek they could splash around in and pretend they were swamp creatures. There was another cry and none other than Donovan appeared at the edge of the forest. He was badly injured.

"Uncle Donovan! Professor Umbridge!" the girls called after him as they ran forward.

"No stay back," he croaked.

The snow beneath him was turning an unfortunate ruby color and Diamond stumbled backward a few feet. Just then a dark cloud appeared and left behind a man dressed in all black who was wielding a wand aimed at Donovan.

"Crucio!" hissed the man and a strange spell Kim didn't recognize seemed to take over Donovan's body making him rock back and forth.

"Stop!" Kim shouted, boldly marching forward even though she seemed to no longer be in charge of her legs. They had a much braver mind of their own.

"Aw a little girl," hissed the man in dark robes. "Want to join this man here to die?"

The direction of the man's wand now pointed at Kim. She heard Donovan scream something inaudible but it was too late. Kim was filled with unbearable pain and was forced to her knees in the snow. She was hot and her insides were burning. The pain levels were now almost greater than they were when she transformed. She griped at the snow, trying to cool her insides down but Kim didn't know how much longer she could take of this. All of a sudden there were new footsteps running behind her.

"Stupify!" cried the voice and a red light cleared Kim's vision.

She lay face up in the snow but who she saw standing before her was not her grandmother like she'd expected but her mother. Mrs. Banks stood firmly in the snow, wand pointed directly at the kidnapper who had been blasted back several feet. The blow had caused his head to hit a tree trunk with a _thunk_ and he was now lying under a mountain of snow from the branches, unconscious.

"Mom?" Kim muttered, still in shock of everything that just happened.

"It's okay baby, it's okay," Mrs. Banks said, running her hands through Kim's browning, blonde hair. "You're alright now. Don't do anything like that again. Mom!" she called. "Harold! Emanuel!"

Donovan was still in life threatening danger. He was losing a lot of blood and was quickly joined by Professor Silva, Mr. Banks and Grandmother Alberta. Professor Silva held his hand and ran her fingers through his hair while Mr. Banks pulled out his wand and began binding the wound using magic. Kim was pretty sure he was completely unconscious now.

"You and dad are wizards?" Kim asked, still hazy from whatever curse she'd been hit with.

"Not now honey," said Kim's mother who helped her sit up. "We'll talk later about this. Let's get you inside. We'll put on a cup of tea. Everything will be alright."

Just then the kidnapper started to stir and Kim was once again filled with strength. She stood up and whipped out her wand and pointed it at the villain just as he was about to disappear. Rule or no rule, this guy wasn't going anywhere.

"Kim!" Diamond suddenly screamed sheer terror and pointed at the darkened sky. The last cloud had finally moved away and a flat, silver glowing orb stared down angrily at Kim and the Banks family.

"What is it?" said Mrs. Banks scanning the forest desperately for whatever she thought Diamond was screaming about.

Kim could already feel that it was too late. The thing inside had already clenched hold of her muscles. and as the moonlight fell over her, her gaze went slack. She knew she had to fight harder than she ever had to fight in her entire life but after enduring that awful curse, she had little to no strength left. Suddenly she was bear tackled by Diamond who helped stop her from falling down but she stood rigid and immobile in her friend's tight clench, shaking back and forth as her limbs all threatened to expand at once.

"You know who you are Kim, you know who you are," screamed Diamond.

Kim's family still didn't seem to understand what was happening. They just stood there frozen like ice sculptures.

"Find it in yourself Kim. You know who you are. You're truly in here," Diamond shrieked and jabbed a finger into Kim's expanding chest where her heart should be.

Kim could feel her pulse quicken and her mind threatening to slip away at any given second. Her face grew painfully hot and painful as her muzzle exploded outward and her fangs shot out. There were terrified reactions around her as everyone took a step back. She didn't want to watch them any longer or feel the pain of transformation. All she wanted was to let go.

"Diamond let go of me!" she wanted to scream but no words came out, only a terrified howl.

Finally Kim grew so big and grotesque, Diamond was forced to release her and was sent sprawling backwards in the snow. Kim could hold on no longer. She let her wand fall to the ground and raced off into the forest.


	26. Toujours Pur

Author's Note: I'm really sorry these two chapters are super serious but I promise last one for a while. (probably.) I felt like this chapter was important to be very serious in the sense that it sort of relates to more than just what the words are saying. Anyway, I just got a really great idea for a new character that I'm exited about. Also shout out to AjaTheNerdBunnyAuthor and MissesE for once again being amazing and supportive!

Chapter 26

Kim's eyes flew open. She was panting and lying face up somewhere in the dirt. Her tattered velvet green Christmas dress still clung to her but was in ruins and her hair had become a still tangled darker shade. Kim's recountings of her transformations were becoming more fluid. The occurrences of the night before came back to her almost instantaneously. She'd traveled off into the woods and scavenged around in the night but she'd seen something. A horrible, massive cloaked figure drifting towards her. It had come right up to her and then left. Kim's spine erupted into shivers as she recognized it was one of those things that dragged off Lycaon and Rhea Silvia.

It was easier for Kim to get up that morning because she hadn't been confined to one little space this time so there was no need for the wolf to hurt her. She did a quick 360 and soon realized she had no idea where she was. All that surrounded her were trees, trees and more trees. Kim learned against a tree, the rough bark irritating a scratch mark on her back and wondered if she really wanted to find her way back. After all, if her mother was a witch Kim didn't know if she'd even want Kim back in the house.

"Kim!" came a voice from the distance.

It was too late to make a decision. Before she could run, Kim made eye contact with a pair of bright pink eyes and saw a white fluffy coat springing through the snow. Diamond had arrived.

Kim didn't know what to say. She couldn't believe how Diamond had reacted when she'd turned last night. It was Diamond's voice that kept her fighting until the very last second and she may be credited for saving her family's life.

Before Kim could express what she was feeling, Diamond once again threw her arms around her but this time not in a tackling, desperate kind of way.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she said and didn't let go for the longest time. "Mrs. Banks she's over here!" Diamond called.

Kim jerked backwards, sliding slightly in the snow.

"My mom is here?" she asked.

Diamond nodded just as Mrs. Banks appeared in the clearing. She was wearing her blue nightgown with a green coat thrown over it and still had her wand tip illuminating in a pale light of dawn.

"Kim?" said her mother.

The name sounded foreign in her mouth and there was something funny about the way her mother looked at her. She looked sleep deprived as well, almost as if she didn't even recognize the daughter that was standing in front of her.

"Kim you were infected?" said her mother, in the same foreign tone.

Kim looked at Diamond who gave her a reassuring look and nodded. She felt very uncomfortable about this, ashamed even. Kim was ashamed she had to stand her like this and talk to her mother about something she really wished hadn't happened her her.

Just then as if things couldn't get any worse Mr. Banks and Grandmother Alberta appeared, Kim's grandmother dressed for bed and her father dressed for work.

"Stay back Helga," said Grandmother Alberta as she arrived on the scene. She stuck out her bony hand and cautioned Kim's mother from coming nearer.

"What?" said Kim, taking a step backwards herself in the opposite direction.

Grandmother Alberta, like her mother was also looking at Kim in a way that she'd never seen before. It was like their eyes were seeing right through hers.

"Kimberly I don't know what you've done," said Grandmother Alberta in a worried tone. "I've said you can make some bad choices in your life but this... this isn't right. I'm sorry Kim but you need to go."

"What?" repeated Kim.

"Alberta you can't be serious," said Mr. Banks who seemed to be the only one who still looked at Kim the same way he use to tuck a ten year old version of her into bed.

"I had my doubts when I saw those scars on her face Harold," said Grandmother Alberta. "Surely you two must have noticed how sick she looked even before now. Her hair had gotten so much darker, I just assumed she was growing out of her gold locks but now I feel I'm such a fool. My sister Delores has taught me everything there is to know about identifying one of them. I should have been more careful," she said and waged her finger. "Harold I said stay back from her!"

"But she's still our daughter," said Mr. Banks, who had been attempting to comfort the shaking Kim. "Who cares if she's one of them?"

"Who cares?" said Kim's Grandmother. "Who cares!" she shouted. "My mother was a pureblood and was disowned when she married my father but that means I still have the blood of one of the nobel 28 families running through my veins. You Harold yourself have Malfoy blood in your system and should be proud of it. I don't know how you two did it," she said. "But somehow you two created three squibs in the family!" Grandmother Alberta shouted. "In my day we would have drowned them. But of course, I played along. I pretended I knitted and made scarves like any muggle grannie would do for seventeen years! My own mother would disown me if she were still with us today. While I still have pureblood in my veins I am not going to let whatever foul blood has overtaken your daughter to infect anyone else. I said stay away Harold!"

Kim was shaking violently now. This wasn't her grandmother, it couldn't be. This wasn't the woman who told her stories by the fireplace or her baked pies and let her lick the bowls. She must be dreaming. Maybe she hadn't woken up yet and was still asleep in the snow.

Mrs. Banks who had been frozen as a statue this whole time seemed to unfreeze at this moment and turn to Grandmother Alberta. "What do you suppose we do mother?" she asked. "We can't just throw her out."  
"That's exactly the point!" screeched Grandmother Alberta. "She's diseased Helga can't you see that? Do you want any of your other children howling at the moon?"  
Finally Kim was brave enough, or angry enough to take a step forward.

"I don't suppose I get any say in this do I?" she said harshly.

There was a moment of surprise where all the adults suddenly remember that Kim knew how to speak and had been listening to everything they were saying. Then it was Grandmother who was the fastest back on her feet.

"You need to go," she said plainly and pointed off into the forest. "Diamond it was nice to meet you but you need to leave with her."

"Mother no," said Mrs. Banks.

"You know what, congratulations Helga," said Grandmother Alberta. "You disgrace me with three, non magical children and then one day I get a letter from you saying there's finally hope, someone to pass the family pendant onto, a witch in the family, but no," she said distastefully. "You have three squibs and not a witch, a werewolf. If you're not going to take initiative, I will. Kim go. Now."

Kim wasn't sure which hurt more, her transformation or her Grandmother's remarks. Either way she was fed up with it.

"Fine!" Kim said and turned on her heels in the snow, running off deeper into the woods.

Something inside Kim felt like a hole was tearing its way inside her. The grandmother who she'd always loved and respected could now only see her as a monster. What she had said about her mother failing her lineage was horrifying to hear from such a respected role model. Kim couldn't take it anymore. She stomped around angrily in the snow until finally Diamond caught up her and gave her the warm white coat to cover her shredded green dress. Kim couldn't be more grateful as she even comforted her in the snow. This had officially been the worst Christmas of her life.

"What is out next step?" Diamond asked after a very long time.

Kim's bones were freezing over even in Diamond's coat and it wasn't fair of her to make Diamond wait her for her with nothing but her muggle clothes on.

"We need to get back to Hogwarts," Kim decided.

"We need to get out of these woods first," said Diamond. "And we also need to get our stuff from the house. Maybe if I can get in-"

"No need," said a voice from behind the two girls.

They turned around to see Donovan and Professor Silva standing together in the snow

with their arms around each other. Donovan looked so much better, almost fully recovered and was holding Kim's trunk and Bellona and Professor Silva was carrying Diamond's things. They looked almost angelic with the white snow falling softly behind them.

"Donovan!" Kim said running over to her mentor and hugging him.

Donovan hugged her tightly even though she could tell he was hurting where he'd been

cursed.

"I am so sorry Kim," he said, bending down to properly look her in the eye. "You saved my life."

Kim blushed. "No I really didn't," said Kim.

"Yes you did," Donovan argued. "If you hadn't stepped in, one more curse would have finished me off. I'm sure of it."

"Why did he want you?" Kim asked suddenly.

Donovan's gaze broke and he looked away. "I don't really know Kim," he said in a completely different tone. "It might have something to do with this," he said and from his front pocket he produced the black pendant.

Kim was surprised, she assumed the kidnapped would have stolen it or at least Donovan wouldn't try to come back for it.

"There's been whispers of the son of Merlin reappearing," Donovan said, depositing the pendant safely in Kim's hand. "I think that man mistook the 'M' on this pendant to mean Merlin and saw an opportunity."

"What does the 'M' stand for then?" asked Kim, rubbing the black stone with her thumb.

"Well Kim, what I believe it stands for is Minister," he said tapping the stone. "You see, one of our direct relatives was the Minister for Magic a long long time ago and I believe this is what he wore during the time."

Kim stared at the obsidian stone in awe. Even with her still somewhat limited perspective of the magical world, Minister for magic sounded awfully important.

"Grab my hand," said Donovan reaching out gloved fingers for Kim to grab. "Diamond you hold onto Emanuel- er Professor Silva. We're going to apparate back to your train."

Kim met Diamond's eye as they both grabbed hands with a professor. They squeezed their eyes shut and with a 'pop', they were gone.


	27. The Transfer

Authors note: Okay so it occurred to me that I needed to figure out how this story is going to end so I opened up a new document and just started writing whatever came to mind. This is the horror that resulted:

 _(Literally Dorothy though_

 _you have to come up with a plot for this story_

 _like I know you think you have a plot with the son of merlin and stuff_

 _And you've thunk up a subplot with Grey and Lilith_

 _but really though_

 _closure. real plot. come on think._

 _okay fine Dorothy_

 _I'll come up with a plot for this story...)_

Yeah so I did actually figure stuff out so hopefully this will result in a better ending than one I just come up with as the final chapter start coming around. Anyway enjoy chapter 27!

Chapter 27

Kim was reminded of the horrible, sea sick feeling she got when she first apparated with Donovan. Now they were in the train station. Kim and Diamond pushed their trunks ahead, and Donovan and Professor Silva trailed behind them. The girls found the barrier and had no trouble getting on the platform. It was mostly empty as Christmas break wasn't quite over yet. They were lucky the after Christmas train was today and there was still time to catch it. Kim would be glad to use her wand again. She'd felt to powerless back at her parents house. Life had become so mundane over the break, Kim felt herself almost reach to check her phone for any texts.

Back on the train, Kim changed into a sweater and some jeans since uniforms weren't yet required, not until all the students were back from their vacation. Kim and Diamond had no trouble finding an empty cart as most of them weren't occupied so they were surprised when a boy their age knocked on the glass door and requested to come in.

"You guys are the only ones I can find on this train who don't look like they want to beat me to a pulp," said the boy and took a seat when neither of the girls said anything

Grey couldn't be older than the two girls and had a very pale complexion. He had light brown hair that was slicked back on his head and very odd colored eyes. When he sat, he sat with a very feminine posture that Kim couldn't help noticing and his outfit was pretty fancy considering they were only on a train. He wore a blue and white checked button up shirt along with a brown vest, and khaki pants. Grey smiled at the girls with great enthusiasm.

"What house are you in Grey?" Kim asked, not remembering him as one of the Slytherin boys.

"No idea," he said. "I'm a transfer here from Durmstrang. It didn't really work out there for me so I requested to switch to Hogwarts."

"A transfer?" said Diamond. "I didn't know you could do that."

"Well you can with my circumstances," he said mysteriously. "Er, I don't think I caught your names."  
Kim and Diamond introduced themselves but before they could get very much further in the conversation another, older looking girl stopped by the cabin and peered in. She had dark hair and bangs that almost covered his eyes that were already concealed with black sunglasses. Grey seemed startled by the girl's appearance but also seemed to recognize her.

"Sorry, gotta go," he said absentmindedly. "Nice meeting you guys."  
Diamond and Kim exchanged odd glances once they were alone again. For the rest of the train ride they didn't hear anything else from Grey and turned to homework instead.

"Have you done that paper Donovan assigned yet?" asked Diamond.

"What assignment?" said Kim.

Diamond looked uncomfortable. "Uh, you know, that assignment."

Then Kim remembered. She sighed and pulled out a piece of parchment paper from her bag and wished for the millionth time that she could just use a pencil. Thankfully she had remembered to pack her everlasting ink quill, the special one from Weasley Wizard Wheezes that changed color when she misspelled a word.

"How to identify a werewolf," Kim said, buring head firmly in the parchment. "Let's see. Number one, she's sitting in my seat," Kim wrote. "Number two, she's wearing my clothes, and number three- her name is Kimberly Banks."

Kim wrote this in big, loopy letters in a particularly uneven tone then put down her quill.

"There, I think Professor Umbridge will find that quite acceptable."

Diamond stifled a laugh.

By the time the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station, Diamond and Kim had finished all of their winter break homework and were ready to be back in their dorms with the other Slytherins. It felt almost wrong being at Hogwarts when no one else was around. There were a few kids there who hadn't gone home for the holidays but no one Kim and Diamond recognized as a friend. The Slytherin common room felt empty and was striped of festivities. It was almost a scare when someone crept up behind them while they were talking by the fire.

"Hey Grey what are you doing here?" asked Diamond, smiling at him.

"I'm in Slytherin house," he said. "Just got word from the headmistress. She had me try on this funny hat. Did she make everyone wear that or was she just trying to make me look funny?"

"Everyone had to wear that," Kim confirmed. "Here I'll show you where the boy's dormitory is."

"So who was that girl we saw on the train?" Diamond asked as they helped Grey unpack.

Grey tensed, which Kim found strange. "Who, Lilith?" he said in a higher voice than before. Kim remembered the pale faced girl with jet black hair and dark sunglasses. "She's my sister, well my half sister. She doesn't go here."

"She doesn't?" said Diamond, confused. "Then why was she on the train?"

"Wasn't ready to say goodbye to me I guess," Grey said with a nervous laugh. "Thanks for helping me unpack guys," he said and closed the lid to his trunk before they'd even gotten halfway done.

Dinner over the holidays was far from how it was during the rest of the year. Instead of having the option of course, every meal was planned out and in order to conserve food there wasn't much to offer. Kim chewed on a stale dinner roll and flipped through a wizarding magazine. Apparently one of the princesses of Althenia was having a huge birthday party for her eleventh birthday that was supposedly featuring a flying swimming pool among other glamorous events.

"There not really princesses," Diamond explained as she pointed to one of the glossy moving images of twelve twirling girls in fancy dresses. "They're all just the daughters of this really rich and powerful wizard," she said. "They just like to call themselves princesses because they're rich and pretty so they can basically do whatever they want," Diamond said and she sounded a little bitter about it.

"Let me see," said Grey and Kim handed him the magazine. "Love her shoes," he said and Diamond giggled. Kim was a little surprised herself.

That night, Kim and Diamond were visited by Professor Silva who turned out the light for them. It wasn't long before Kim was asleep but her dreams were the stuff of nightmares. It was another flashback to her time as the beast only this time she got a close up on the hooded dementor she'd seen in the forest. What had that dementor been doing there? It seemed to stare straight into Kim's soul even with no visible eyes. Panic erupted in Kim's mind as she dreamt in more detail what might be under the dementor's hood. She didn't even realize she was screaming until both Professor Silva and Diamond were standing over with worried looks on their faces.

"Just a dream," Kim muttered. "See you in the morning."

She was covered in cold sweat but she didn't want Diamond or her professor to see that. Instead she crawled back under her blanket and tried to stay awake for as long as she could so that she wouldn't be faced by the creature again. The first time she'd seen one it had been there to help, this one however looked almost mean, like it wanted to do harm to her. Kim did her best to block the image from her mind and focus on other things. If only she could cast that silvery spell she'd seen to protect her from these monsters.


	28. The Patronus

Chapter 28: The Patronus

Kim awoke late that morning much to her disappointment and got dressed. She assumed Diamond must have given up waiting for her and gone down to breakfast already, or maybe she'd already had breakfast, Kim wasn't sure how late it was. She flinched when she looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Every month her eyes looked older, her skin sicker and her hair got darker and darker and now it could be classified as brown. Kim missed her golden curls.

Instead of going down for breakfast, Kim headed to Umbridge's office. Donovan was sitting as his desk scribbling as usual. His floating fish swam around him fondly and he didn't even look up when one of them started to chew on the tip of his pencil. Kim coughed politely.

"Good morning Kim," Donovan said brightly and gave her a warm smile. "What can I do for you? Classes don't start for another week you know."

"Sorry to intrude on your vacation," Kim said. "I've come by to turn in my assigment."  
Donovan raised an eyebrow. "I meant to tell you that you were excused from the homework," he said.

Kim shook her head. "It's okay," she said and handed him the parchment. "I've done it already, two scrolls of parchment just like you asked."

Donovan looked a little weary until he read the paper and laughed. "I see 'The End' takes up more than a page just by itself. Good work Kimberly, full marks."

Kim waited for a moment to see if Donovan might say anything else then took a breath and said what she'd really come here for.

"I want you to teach me the patronus charm," she said.

Donovan looked up from his scribbling again with a worried look on his brow. "Why do you suddenly want to learn a charm to repel dementors?" he asked.

Kim thought about telling him about the dementor in the forest but then decided against it. The story might just bring back terrible memories for him and remind him of the kidnapper that had still managed to get away.

"I just was curious," said Kim. "They've really freaked me out ever since I saw one in the woods when Lycaon and Rhea Silvia attacked."  
Donovan put down his quill and stood up. "Kim, you have to understand. A patronus charm is a very complex spell that I don't usually teach until your fifth year. It takes a lot of will even to muster the tiniest bit of fog to save yourself."

Kim clenched her jaw. "So what you're saying is, I'm not old enough."  
Donovan hesitated and looked away from her. Kim's eyes definitely had aged and a year ago she wouldn't have even recognized herself.

"Kim you're eleven years old," said Umbridge. "It's a very difficult spell and really I don't want you to worry that you'll ever come in contact with a dementor. We have nothing to practice on anyway. The training... supplies I use with the fifth years don't even get here until April."

"What about a boggart?" said Kim, remembering the dementor that Harry Potter can conjured during his short time as her mentor.

"That would have to be your greatest fear," Donovan said. "Do you really fear dementors more than your own transformation?"

Kim remembered waking up mid scream the previous night and being drenched in sweat. She thought of the cold and despair that filled her anytime she so much as thought of a dementor and shuttered. Her transformation weren't really something she feared anymore, it was what would come of them if she was around her friends and family and Kim didn't see how a boggart would be able to change itself into that.

"Yes," said Kim.

Donovan stood up again and sighed. "I do have a boggart locked up somewhere for the third years. Are you absolutely sure about this?"

Kim nodded. She wanted to appear more confident than she felt because facing a dementor again was not really something she ever wanted to do.

Donovan lead Kim into the classroom where he produced his wand and said a spell to unlock a cabinet. Inside he rummaged around before producing a thick briefcase which he placed on the table in the center of the room.

"Close your eyes," instructed Donovan and Kim did as she was told. "I want you to go back and picture the thing that makes you the happiest."  
Kim was confused but she did her best to think hard. She thought of Christmas, any other Christmas but the last. She saw cookies and presents and that warm feeling you get around the holidays but she also saw her Grandmother in every memory she searched. Then Kim tried her birthdays. She remembered lots of different birthdays but her eleventh was the one that stood out to her the most. That was the day she'd learned she was a witch, or really it was the day after her birthday, but that day had been one of the single most important days of her life.

"Repeat after me without wands," Donovan said, "Expecto Patronum!"

Kim repeated.

"Good," said Umbridge. "Now remember that good memory. Hold it inside on the count of three, one... two... three!"

The lid of the briefcase burst open and a silvery moon rose from it's contents. Kim stared at it in bleak disappointment.

"Riddikulus!" Donovan shouted and forced the moon back into the briefcase. "Sorry Kim," he said. "But at least we know it's not your greatest fear. You'll learn the patronus spell in time."

Kim was upset. She wanted Donovan to know she was upset so she ran from the room without a rush. Her face was hot and she could feel something burning in her. Kim had to know how to perform the Patronus charm. She didn't know why or how she would learn it but she knew she had to do it. Now that she at least knew the incantation, maybe Kim could figure out a way to practice it without the presence of a real dementor.

To Kim, the forbidden forest was no longer a place of terror or even rebellion. She felt at home there in the trees and easily found her way to an enormous, thick stump. As soon as she sat down a memory flickered in her mind of a demented beast howling upon this very stump but she pushed it down and focused on pulling out her wand. She ran her thumb along the smooth tip and spiny grip. It was hard to imagine how much power a wooden stick could wield.

"Expecto patronum!" she said and pointed her tip straight ahead.

Nothing happened.

"Expecto patronum!' she said again, this time louder than before.

As she kept repeating the phase all she was doing was getting more frustrated. It was hard to focus on a happy memory when all of her thoughts were focused on how she wasn't performing well enough. Kim needed to center her mind, maybe a change of scenery would do her some good. She climbed to the top of one of the trees and clunch to one of the highest branches. It was calm and peaceful above everyone else so Kim's thoughts came more easily. She remembered finding the letter on her placemat and thinking it was a joke. Then when Donovan appeared in the fireplace it had been like a portal to a whole new world.

"Expecto patronum!" Kim yelled and the tiniest of silver wisps escaped from her wand. It was hardly visible in the winter sunlight but it gave Kim all the joy in the world. She couldn't wait to show Cherokee and Diamond.


	29. Corporeal Four

Author's Note: Continued thanks to AjaTheNerdBunnyAuthor and MissesE!

Chapter 29 Corporeal Four

As the days went by more and more children began to arrive from winter break and Kim was bombarded with stories of other children's family vacations. The only person who seemed to have had a vacation even slightly as bad as hers was Grey who explained to her one chilly afternoon how he'd spent his christmas in his room as his parents had decided to go out for dinner.

"My mom doesn't want me telling my step dad that I'm a wizard," Grey said shyly.

"So you're a mud- muggleborn?" Kim asked. She'd almost said the word but caught herself.

"No, my mom's definitely a witch and so is my biological dad," said Grey. "I'm actually named after him but he and my mom were never married."

"Your dad's name was Grey?" Kim asked.

Grey shook his head. "Something to do with his last name," he said. "I'm not really suppose to talk about him. He wasn't exactly the best person."

Kim had become very familiar with that term. A lot of people in Slytherin said they were descended from 'not the best people', meaning death eaters. Other's we're proud of it, but quietly so as nowadays it was shameful to speak about.

"What about Lilith?" Kim asked.

Grey's spine straightened suddenly as if the sound of his sister's name was enough to scare him to pieces.

"What about her?" Grey asked.

"You said she's your half sister," Kim said.

Grey relaxed a little. "Oh," he said. "She's related on my mom's side."

Kim could tell Grey was a little uncomfortable talking about his sister but she pressed on anyway. There was something about her that just didn't seem right.

"Does she still go to Durmstrang?" Kim asked.

"No," Grey said and adjusted his bangs apsentmindendly. "She doesn't really like school that much so she kind of just does whatever she wants."

Kim laughed. "So she just skips school and everyone's cool with that?" she said. "How come the ministry of magic doesn't require her?"

"Look," Grey said. "I'm sure everyone would rather talk about my sister but I really don't want to talk about her right now. Can we just leave it at that?"

"Yeah," Kim said. "Sorry."

Just then Diamond came bursting through the door. "Kim! Kim! Guess who's here?"

Kim squealed happily as Diamond stepped back to reveal Cherokee.

"Your hair!" Kim screamed.

Over the break Cherokee had cut her raven black hair into a chin length bob. Kim noticed she was also wearing a bit of make up now too.

"Your hair!" Cherokee said as she gave Kim a hug. "It's practically brown now, what happened?" she laughed. "Did someone have a ruff night. Get it, ruff! Ruff!"

Kim whirled around and saw Grey's eyes dart quickly away.

"Cherokee have you met Grey?" she said before Cherokee gave him any more reason to be suspicious.

Cherokee covered her mouth but Kim could tell she was still smiling. She grabbed Kim and Diamond both by the elbows and took them over to a corner away from everyone else.

"Guess who I saw on the train," Cherokee said. "Leisel the Weasel!"

"Don't you think it's time we forgive her?" Diamond said. "I mean she was our friend and-" Diamond lowered her voice to a whisper. "She knows our secret."

"Our secret?" Kim raised an eyebrow.

"Yes our," said Diamond. "The three of us were still working on becoming animagi. What if she goes and tattles to Professor Alexandria about everything. She already suspects Kim of lycanthropy."

"Speaking of which," Cherokee said as she produced a roll of parchment from her bag. "After this essay you're going to have to be really careful," she said. "It was pretty easy for me because I actually know a werewolf but for the other kids, they might have actually done some research. You're not exactly flying under the radar Kim. I mean the first sign is physical scars. A werewolf when isolated from other humans turns to self harm. The second is decoloration of the hair. Everyone knows you were bright spanking blonde when you first came to Hogwarts. Personally I think you rock the brunette look but others might notice, especially since you disappear about once a month to go visit your grandmother or something."

Diamond sucked in a breath. "Touchy subject," she whispered.

Just then someone behind them cleared their throat and all three girls spun around on the balls of their feet. Kim was immediately surprised to see Liesel standing there, her hair as curly and mousy brown as ever and separated into two girlish pigtails.

"Hi guys," Liesel said and shuffled her feet awkwardly. "I uh, just wanted to apologize to you all. Especially Cherokee. Um that was sort of dumb telling James and his friends about your blood status."  
"You think," scoffed Cherokee.

"I'm really sorry," said Leisel. "And it's not like I told them about Kim. I at least kept my mouth shut there."

"And if you hadn't, we would have hexed you so badly you wouldn't be able to walk again in your life," Diamond said.

"Yeah, telling them my secret was still really not cool though," said Cherokee, crossing her arms.

"And I'm sorry!" Leisel pleaded. "Look, I came back because I have an idea for our animagi transformations."

Cherokee raised an eyebrow. "Really now?"

"Yes," said Leisel. "I found out my uncle is unregistered. He told me you have to brew this potion as well as recite this super complex transfiguration charm. He even gave me the recipe," Liesel said, and provided from her bag a crumbled piece of parchment paper.

"I don't know, looks a little sketchy," said Diamond as they passed the paper around.

Alright Leisel you've got one last shot to hang with us," said Cherokee as she handed the recipe back. "But if you ever betray me or anyone else again we will end you."

"Got it," said Liesel shakily and she took a deep breath.

"Great," said Kim. "Glad we're all back together because I've got something to show you all."

"Kim how come we've got to come all the way out into the forbidden forest in order for you to show us something?" Diamond asked several minutes later.

The four girls were standing in a circle around the stump Kim had found previously and three of them were utterly confused. Liesel looked a little scared even. There wasn't a reason why this needed this to happen, Kim just felt deep down like it was something she had to do. At that moment the sun sparked through the trees and sunbeams danced on the girl's faces. As Kim looked around she had this weird feeling like the four of them met here at this very stump all the time. It was a hard feeling to describe and then when Kim found the words, the feeling quickly dissipated.

"I need to teach you all the patronus charm," said Kim.

Cherokee laughed. "Kim are you feeling alright?" she asked.

"What even is the patronus charm?" asked Liesel.

"Quiet Weasel," Cherokee snapped.

Kim took a breath. "I don't know why but I have this feeling that the four of us are suppose to learn it," she explained.

Diamond raised an eyebrow. "And why is that exactly? The patronus charm is extremely complex. Why the sudden need to learn it right this very minute?"

Kim didn't have an answer but with every passing second she felt more and more anxious to get it over with.

"Is someone going to tell me what the patronus charm is?" Liesel demanded.

Cherokee let out an irritated sigh.

"The patronus charm is like a forcefield that dementors feed off of. It's extremely difficult to maintain let alone summon," she explained. "Advanced wizards have patronuses that take the form of a specific animal. Sort of like an animagus does when you change into it."

"Okay everyone link arms," said Kim.

She didn't know why or where she'd gotten this idea but it made sense that if they were somehow able to link their powers, they might cast stronger spells.

"Kim this is stupid," said Liesel as she reluctantly grabbed Cherokee's arm.

"Just trust me about this," Kim said. "Repeat after me, Expecto Patronum."

The group repeated the spell back to her and then took out their wands. On the count of three they all lifted them into the air and shouted the spell.

It was incredible. Silvery creatures erupted from the tips of each of the girl's wands and Kim could feel the energy buzzing around them. A silvery rat was skipping around Liesel's head, a wispy stag pranced from Cherokee's wand tip and a fearsome wolf prowled around Kim with a snarl. All this happened in an instant though because as soon as the creatures could be identified, Diamond screamed and skidded backwards, breaking the circle and wiping out the creatures.

"What just happened?" said Cherokee.

"It was the Grim!" Diamond shouted. "The Grim, it's everywhere," she began to sob. "I've been having dreams about it at night. I think it's following me. Kim do you know what this means?" she wailed.

"Wait, the Grim is your patronus?" Kim asked. "Are you sure? It might just be an animal that looks like it, or another type of dog."

"No it was the Grim!" Diamond insisted.

"Who cares!" shouted Liesel. "We just summoned actual patronuses. That makes us like magical geniuses or something."

Kim wasn't sure how good she felt about her own patronus. Were to anyone besides her friends see it, people might take that as a clue to who she really was. It made her a little angry as well, to not have a patronus that truly represented her.

"Kim how did you know that would happen when we linked arms?" Cherokee asked.

"I don't know, I just did," said Kim. "It was just this weird feeling. I also feel like it was a one time thing like we can't do that again."

"Well I don't want to do it again," said Diamond, throwing her hands up in the air. "I'm done with this."

The girls made their way back to the castle and trudged through the thick snow, hugging their winter clothes close to them. As they reached the great hall, Kim, Diamond, Cherokee and Liesel ran into the two people the needed to see the least right then.


	30. The Duel

Chapter 30: The Duel

"I see the rat is back with it's pack," said Coco referring to Liesel as they met each other in the hall. For one second Kim thought she had been spying on them and saw Liesel's patronus take the form of a rat. She and Edmund were standing with their arms crossed and shooting the glares at the Slytherin girls. "Guess you let her come crawling back didn't you," she sniffed.

"Yeah, because Slytherins stick together," said Cherokee and reluctantly she wrapped her arm around Liesel protectively. "Unlike you Ravenclaws."

"Oh yeah?" said Coco. "Then I guess you three don't know about Kim's little secret."  
Kim felt her heart hammer to a halt. What had Coco just said?

"What secret?" Diamond retorted.

Coco laughed. "Brightest in the class? Yeah right," Coco snorted. "I'm not stupid you know. Ravenclaws are known for their intellect, don't flatter yourselves. I have my eye on you, Kim."

The Slytherins linked arms and scurried away down the corridor as quickly as possible.

"Do you think she knows?" Kim asked in a hushed whisper.

"I bet she does," said Cherokee. "Gosh I hate Alexandria for making us do that identification assignment."

Kim slumped against a wall, utterly defeated. She felt completely exposed and out in the open. When people passed her she didn't want them looking at her face or noticing her different hair color. All Kim wanted was to fit in at that moment. Forget the real reason she was excited to come to Hogwarts and become the greatest witch there ever was. Now all Kim wanted was to be a regular witch, not some freaky monster that everyone was afraid of.

"If Coco can out you as a werewolf," Liesel said. "Then I say we put a stop to it."

"I'm in," said Cherokee with a wicked grin.

"Me too," said Diamond. "We're gonna crack her like a Coco-nut."

Kim shook her head and waved her arms dramatically.

"Don't," she sighed. "There will only be more like her that figure it out. I might as well tell everyone."

"And let Professor Alexandria treat you like spoiled meat?" said Diamond in a shocked tone. "We're not going to let that happen."

Kim followed in her friend's footsteps with a slower pace than usual.

"Just don't put her in any danger," she said tiredly. "Or Edmund," she added.

"Oh we won't," Cherokee said with a grin.

Classes started up again and January seemed to be shaping into another boring, cold month. The girls tried out their patronuses again but like Kim had predicted, the most they could summon was a wisp of pale silver. Around the middle of the month the Slytherin girls went to see another quidditch game and was excited to see Slytherin win another match. Everyone in the common room raved about Sketch that night and Cherokee would absolutely not shut up about her. Over the weeks the girls had slowly been pilfering things from Professor Silva's classroom in order to brew their animagus potion and it was almost ready to begin brewing, the only thing they had left to find was a place to brew it in.

"Moaning Myrtle's toilet?" Diamond suggested as a joke one evening.

The other girl's snickered but Cherokee praised her.

"Diamond that's a genius idea!" she exclaimed. "No one ever goes in there because Myrtle likes to throw things at them while they're in the toilets."

"I don't know," Kim said apprehensively. "Doesn't that make it all the more obvious. I mean we don't really know the kinds of things that go down in there."

"Come on guys it's a great idea," Cherokee insisted.

And so, weather Kim agreed or not, they began their weekly meetings in the bathroom of Moaning Myrtle to occasionally check on the potion because it took so long to brew. Of course, Myrtle was none to happy about this. She keep whining and teasing them and threatening to turn them into Professor Alexandria if they didn't stop brewing the vile looking liquid. The ghost kept screaming warnings about something about the Chamber of Secrets and Kim ignored her until the day she muttered something about the son of Merlin.

"Wait, Myrtle what did you say?" Kim asked.

Myrtle turned around from where she was moping in the corner and suddenly flew towards Kim at an astonishing speed with a very angry look on her face.

"I don't think that's any of your business," she exclaimed. Then slowly she turned around and went back to her corner and began weeping again. "I hate Slytherins," she cried for about the hundredth time. "Gryffindors I'm fine with but Slytherins are rotten little pests. I was killed by a Slytherin you know."

"Why don't you shut up or we'll kill you again, you little mudblood," Cherokee snarled.

After Kim had told her friends that she was in fact a mudblood, they'd slowly stopped using that term but know that she knew that she was infact pureblood, it had started all over again.

It wasn't long before Kim had to stop worrying about exams and getting the correct charms right and start worrying about the January moon. Thankfully this time, there wasn't that much to worry about. She would go to the Shrieking Shack, lock herself in and everything would be fine. The only problem was coming up with another good excuse for being out of bed at night. The head girl was just about at her wits end with Kim's grandmother excuses and she knew she'd probably not get away with another.

"Get Silva to write you a note," Liesel suggested.

Kim shrugged. "It might just look more suspicious. Plus, now that I don't really need to hide it from you guys, who else is going to check on me in bed tonight?"

"You think we should just stuff the bedding?" said Cherokee.

"Worth a shot," said Kim. "I mean as long we tell Silva about it, she'll pretend to glance over it whenever she turns the lights off at night.

The other girls seemed to think this was a good idea and agreed to go through with it. Later that day they tried to corner Silva but couldn't find her anywhere. She wasn't even in potions class that day. Instead they had a substitute who made them brew beginners potions even through their class had become rather advanced over the year. Most kids took this as an opportunity to slack off, but Kim focused on making hers perfect, however boring it migth be. There was still that thought in the back of her mind of becoming the first person to brew a cure to lycanthrophy and any amount of potions practice could give her a better chance.

"Hey Coconut Head," Cherokee hissed at Coco once when they were all sitting outside doing homework. Some of the girls snickered.

Coco whirled around, her eyes aflame.

"What now Cherokee?" she snapped.

"What'd you get for number 6 in charms?" Cherokee hissed.

Coco rolled her eyes. "Like I would tell you," she said. "It just proves how much smarter I am than all of you knuckle heads."  
Before anyone could stop her, Cherokee wiped out her wand and pointed it at Coco.

"Cherokee what are you doing?" said Kim.

Cherokee laughed. "Teaching the little mudblood a lesson," she said.

"I'm not a mudblood," said Coco, drawing her own wand in defence. "I'm pure. If you were a little brighter, you'd know that not all the purebloods land in such a vile house as Salazar Slytherin. Oh, but that's right," she said in a mock tone. "You're not a pureblood after all. You're less of a witch than me."

By now more students had taken notice of what was going on and had started to come over to watch whatever was going on. Cherokee's face was going bright scarlet and Kim noticed Leisel slowing inching away.

"Levicorpus!" Cherokee shouted and something shot out of her wand, hoisting Coco into the air. She now hung by her angle and all of her robes and hair tumbled downwards. Now it was Coco's face that was turning scarlet.

"Let me go," shouted Coco.

Just then Edmund arrived, his golden blonde hair shining in the sun. He took one look at Coco and ran faithfully to her side.

"What are you doing to her?" he shouted and for one moment Kim could have sworn he was talking to her.

Students that had gathered around had begun chanting and they'd unintentionally become the center of everyone's attention.

"I don't need your help you filthy mudblood," Coco shouted. Her face had become so bright red from being held upside down, it almost went white when she realized what she'd just called her best friend. This sent Cherokee and Diamond into howls of laughter as Edmund ran away from the scene, looking upset.

Kim stared at Coco's fighting upside down form and pitied her. Her insides screamed for them to let her go but she knew she could never risk upsetting Cherokee or her other friends. All she could do was stand idly by.

"Tell them Slytherins are the best," Cherokee said, gesturing to the crowd.

Coco's face twisted into a look of anger.

"Never," she spat.

"Fine then," said Cherokee with a laugh. "We'll just leave you here. Might come back in a couple of hours. Want to come Diamond?"

"Love to," Diamond replied and linked arms with Cherokee.

Kim couldn't let them just walk away. She knew she had to do something discretely, and quickly as well, Coco's face was turning from red to purple. Unfortunately, Coco had a method of her own.

"Let me down or I'll tell them about her," Coco hissed and pointed a finger at Kim.

Cherokee let out a laugh but Kim could tell she was just as stunned as she was.

"Ladies and gentlemen we have a winner," she announced as she swept around the onlooking crowd. "Miss Coconut Head herself has proudly proclaimed Slytherin to be the best house."

There was a roar of approval and shouts of dismay from the Ravenclaws. Then with a flick of her wand, Cherokee realized Coco who fell right on her head with a thud. Then the four girls made a speedy escape out of there followed by a gaggle of roaring Slytherins.


	31. Cherokee Earns Her Stripes

**Author's Note: Thought I'd switch things up a bit and talk a bit about Cherokee. Enjoy!**

Chapter 31

Cherokee Peng was eight years old when her mother finally decided that she was indeed a witch. It had been one terrible day after school when she'd come home after a big fight with one of her classmates and a miniature thundercloud had formed above her head. Her father, who knew of her mother's power never spoke a word to her about it, though he never spoke a word to Cherokee about anything. All Cherokee ever saw him do was sit on the couch watching the game, eating bean dip and of course, hunting. At home, Cherokee avoided at all costs his taxidermy room and convinced his mother to forbid him from hanging some of his fighting stags on the wall. It may have been her lazy father that sparked her hate for muggles.

When Cherokee was sorted into Slytherin, she wasn't surprised but she was also a little disappointed. Most of her relatives had been Slytherins and had turned out to be not so great people. One of them was rumored to be the one responsible for bringing Voldemort back from the dead, or her at least some had big part in it. Deep down, a small part of her had wished for Ravenclaw because she knew she had relatives in the Ravenclaw branch as well. Her grandparents were Changs and they had a great history in the Ravenclaw house. Maybe that was part of the reason she hated Coconut Head and Edmund so much.

Cherokee's first night at Hogwarts had been a nightmare. She'd been the last first year to be forced into jumping into the lake and instead of sucking it up like she should have, Cherokee hexed the girl that was holding her and locked herself in the bathroom like a coward. She'd slept in a sitting position in the stall all night, none the wiser to what was going on to the girls below. Cherokee was convinced that if anyone else found her and learned that she hadn't been brave enough to jump, she wouldn't be able to make any friends this year and end up going home.

It actually didn't take long for Cherokee to meet Diamond, an albino girl who seemed to have the same knack with sleight of hand. Cherokee had envied the new girl because she was a true Slytherin, pureblood and so had decided to lie about her blood status. It took a while but Cherokee found she and Diamond actually got along great where as she would usually make fun of someone who looked like her. Together they made a great duo, and Cherokee had resolved to keep it that way, until she met Kim.

Cherokee's first impression of Kim was of a small, quiet girl who hung around Diamond from time to time, and was really rather dull. After Cherokee found out she was actually a werewolf, things had started to change. She felt a little more protective of the naive, shorter girl and almost feared her, though she would never show it. Now that they'd taken in that other girl that followed them around, Cherokee did everything in her power to demonstrate that she was superior to them all; sometimes laughing when she wasn't suppose to, or always knowing what to say, even if it wasn't the right thing to say. She would let her fear of becoming an outcast come true. Cherokee planned to be on top and stay on top.

Sometimes Cherokee felt a little self conscious about being the only Asian girl in Slytherin house. She even wore contacts instead of glasses and highlighted her hair to appear a little more casual and chillaxed. If she wanted to look approachable and demand attention, she needed to fit the part she wanted to play. Slytherin was all about greatness after all, and that's what she was going to achieve.

Coco. That was who Cherokee was 150 percent done with. Last period in Herbology, Coco had slipped something into her Gertrude Gringle and it had gotten sick or something, forcing Cherokee to get a 5 on her midyear exam. Not to mention the fact that she claimed to know some big secret about Kim and Cherokee assumed she knew which one. Cherokee was ready to whip out her wand and send her flying upside down in the air again or something even worse. Maybe frog tickles would do the trick. She might be able to convince her brother to send her some from Weasley Wizard Wheezes next time the post came. The only good thing that seemed to be lasting was the fact that Edmund no longer hung out with Coco anymore. Cherokee had succeeded in making her friendless.

It was after dinner that she, Diamond, Leisel and Kim snuck away into the forbidden forest. Cherokee didn't exactly feel comfortable here, and after seeing her patronus take the form of a stag, the very thing her father hunted she was a little freaked by what else the forest might hold. Kim and the others slid down the secret passageway into the shrieking shack with Cherokee found dirty and a little depressing. Then they waited.

Kim looked awful. She'd taken off all the clothes she found stand to bear without and left on a tattered t shirt that showed her rib cage, and black shorts that were barely visible under the shirt. Her rugged light brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she just looked over all, very tired. Cherokee had thought it might be cool to have a werewolf as a friend but she'd learned, it wasn't something Kim was proud of. It was all in the way she looked at the three of them. It was almost as scary as seeing her transform that first time. Tonight however, Cherokee wouldn't watch that, not until they became animagi at least. Kim wanted them all out before any of them got hurt.

"See you later," said Cherokee as she gave Kim's fragile frame a firm hug.

"See ya," said Leisel, doing the same.

Diamond stood there the longest, embracing her friend and whispering words of comfort. Cherokee stood awkwardly by the door. She'd become slightly agitated over Christmas that Diamond and Kim might form a stronger bond together than she would ever have and it seemed like those fears had come true. Then they left, scrambling back out the entrance to the Shrieking shack and back into the castle.

About an hour later, Cherokee, Diamond and Leisel were sitting by the fire and things were oddly quiet even though Kim was usually the quiet one.

"You guys I have to tell you something," said Diamond, leaning in with a hushed whisper. Cherokee and Liesel both scooted in closer. "You know how Coconut Head seems to think she knows about Kim?"

"Well we don't know that for sure," Cherokee hissed.

Diamond rolled her eyes. "Well she was following us on our way to the Shrieking Shack and-"

"What!" Cherokee cut in again. "How did you know?"

Diamond pulled out a familiar piece of parchment paper; The Marauder's map. "Saw her on it myself," she said. "Well she's still there by the whomping willow and I think that little scumbag is going to get a taste of her own medicine."

Cherokee stood up. "Diamond no," she said. "Coco could get bitten or worse, killed."

Leisel laughed shakily. "Don't be silly. That's genius Diamond. She's not stupid enough to actually go in the Willow and isn't smart enough to find a way in. Maybe she'll just hear some screaming and then get so spooked she'll come screaming into the castle and Ravenclaw will lose all their points for being out of bed at night. Then she won't eve be able to prove it was Kim!"

Cherokee was still uneasy. "Still, Kim will kill us if she finds out someone was near her hideaway. I think I should go check on her."

Diamond raised an eyebrow and laughed. "I don't get what the big deal is," she said. "I did this for you. I know she was planning on sabotaging your Defence Against the Dark Arts midterm. But fine whatever, go ruin it all!"

Cherokee stood up angrily and turned on her heels. "Fine!" she exclaimed. "I'm just going to go make sure a student doesn't die because of some prank," she said and stormed out of the common room.

Since it was night, Cherokee had to be extra stealthy to sneak out of the castle and immediately illuminated her wand once she was inhaled the fresh breath of the forbidden forest. At night Cherokee felt more of an odd appeal to the place which was weird. It seemed like the whole forest was alive but quiet at the same time. All of a sudden, Cherokee heard a howl and ran towards that direction.

As she reached the Whomping Willow there was no Coco in sight. Maybe she went back to the common room, Cherokee thought wildly, but her thoughts returned to the worst possible scenario. She had to at least peek in to make sure Coco hadn't followed them down the hole as well. Darting forward, Cherokee brushed the knot on the tree and it froze, giving Cherokee a chance to dive down the shoot.

I should be in Gryffindor for this, she thought was she sped into the darkened room. For some reason she was less afraid of seeing Kim than she was of seeing Coco down here, then they'd be in serious trouble.

There was a scream from the adjacent room, a human scream. Cherokee peeked in and saw Coco, pale faced pressed up against the wall as a giant, hideous creature prowled forward. It took Cherokee a second to realize that this was Kim. She'd only ever seen her like this once before and it was all a blur to her now. The beast was massive but scrappy looking and demented all the same. It had ripped, shaggy brown fur and scars running down its sides. It was almost hard to fear when Cherokee took a step back to pity the beast.

Coco screamed again, setting Cherokee into motion. She cast herself in front of Kim and bravely held out her wand. It took her an unfortunate two seconds delay to realize how much Cherokee was risking of her own life to face a werewolf like this.

"Calm down," she said but Kim continued to advance. "Kim listen to me!" Cherokee screamed. "It's your friend Cherokee! Listen to me!"

Her screams were getting her nowhere but closer to the beast. Then all of a sudden, with lightning speed, Kim pranced forward.


	32. Contagious

Chapter 32

The next morning Kim awoke in the forest. This was especially troubling because she had made sure a hundred times over that all the exits in the shrieking shack were sealed. Nothing could have opened it without magic. As she stood up, she came crashing down again to the icy forest floor as the memories washed back in the form of a splitting headache.

Kim closed her eyes and saw Coco in the room with her and immediately panicked. Then Cherokee appeared and Kim's body tensed up like she was watching a horror film. She saw herself lunge at them. Kim's eyes flew open, she didn't want to watch what happened next but the memories insisted anyway. A silvery form had appeared as a sort of shield right as Kim got close enough to bite her friend. It was a stag, Cherokee's patronus but Kim never saw her conjure it. It had just appeared. The patronus confused and distracted Kim long enough for Cherokee to drag Coco out of the way. Her friends had gotten away and Kim let out a sigh of relief.

Under a pile of leaves near a tree close to the Whomping Willow, Kim dug until she found her school robe and threw it over her ripped and ragged garments. She was a little sore, but other than that she was fine to walk back to the castle. Upon her entrance to the common room, Kim realized just how early in the morning it was. The other girls had just woken up and were getting ready, so no one noticed as she slipped in.

"You've got a stick," said Diamond as she pulled something out of Kim's mass of hair. "So how'd it go? Cherokee came back from the dorm last night and wouldn't tell us anything."

Kim turned around unexpectedly and glared at her friend Diamond.

"You knew?" she demanded. "You knew Cherokee was down there with me?"

Diamond's words caught in her mouth for a second giving an opening for Cherokee to swoop in.

"I had to go down there and clean up her mess," she said as she brushed by them but Kim didn't let her get away. All she could picture right then was Cherokee's face, strong and resolute as she faced her but her eyes screaming with fear.

Cherokee flinched to Kim's touch as she attempted to stop her from walking away. Slowly, Cherokee turned around, her eyes never once looking up from the ground where they rested. She had her toothbrush in her mouth and her short hair was messy and disarray. There was a slight bend in her back like she was slouched over or just extremely tired.

"What mess?" Kim asked.

"Just leave it," said Cherokee. "It's better you don't know how Coco got in your shack last night. Or how I saved her life," she added as a retort to Diamond.

Kim stood there was both of her friends gave each other a cold stare and walked in the opposite directions. All she wanted was for her friends to sit down and tell her what really happened. Now they weren't even on speaking terms. Kim had to get ready in a rush since she'd already soaked up most of her time talking. She threw on her freshest uniform, pulled her hair into a bun and lined all her visible scars with muggle concealer, as suggested by her friends. Then she headed down for breakfast.

Breakfast was rushed and for some reason Cherokee refused to sit with the rest of them, or make eye contact with Kim. This worried her. She wondered if Cherokee would ever look at her the same again now that she'd seen her in wolf form actually attempt an attack. Kim kept a watchful eye on Coco as well who was sitting alone at the Ravenclaw table with her back to the Slytherins. She looked fine, or at least her back did. Kim couldn't take the waiting any longer, she had to find out of Coco would tell her secret.

"Hey," said Kim, taking a seat across from Coco.

Coco looked up and saw him but didn't say anything and quickly looked away. Surprisingly, Cherokee from the other end of the Slytherin table spotted her and came over as well, taking a place next to Coco. This made Kim a little uncomfortable, now that she was sitting one to two.

"You could have just told me, you know," Coco said coldly as she traced her finger on the wood.

"No she couldn't have," snapped Cherokee before giving Kim the chance to speak. "A little teacher's pet like you would have gone running straight to Alexandria."

"Would not!" Coco protested. "I was her friend before you were Cherokee."

"Oh yeah?" said Cherokee. "Well I guess she chose to only confide in me then," she growled.

Kim had heard enough.

"Stop it!" she roared and both of the other girls shut their mouths. "Coco you can't tell anyone, you have to promise."

Coco laughed. "Can't tell anyone?" she said. "I could have died last night. With all the torture your new friends have put me through this year, it seems about fair the power dynamic changes. I should go tell Professor Alexandria right now as a matter of fact."

Kim began to panic.

"Wait no," she said. "Come on, we use to be friends. I just don't want the whole school knowing just yet."

Coco sighed. "Edmund use to be my friend as well until someone messed that up too," she said, gesturing to Cherokee.

"Hey that was all you," she said as she swiped an eaten biscuit from Coco's plate.

"Anyway sit down," Coco hissed at Kim. "I'm not going to tell everyone... yet. Only because I'm pretty sure I would be dead by now if it wasn't for Cherokee."

Cherokee who had taken a bit from the stolen biscuit, suddenly switched modes and awkwardly put the biscuit back onto Coco's plate. She looked a little proud of herself, but in the way that you can see it on the inside.

"Thank you," said Kim. "I promise I won't forget this."

"Oh you will," Coco muttered as Kim and Cherokee left her headed back to the Slytherin table.

"Are you limping?" Kim asked after walking only a few paces away.

Cherokee shook her head but Kim could tell she was lying. Once again, panic seized hold of her and she grabbed Cherokee firmly by the shoulders and had her sit down in the nearest chair.

"I need you to tell me honestly yes or no," Kim said, her eyes wide. "Did I hurt you last night?"

There was a moment's pause which nearly killed Kim before Cherokee gave a small nod. She was blinking back tears and trying to look the other way so Kim wouldn't notice.

"It's not a bite," she muttered. "I don't think so at least."

Kim's heart hammered into her temple as she fell to her knees and without paying any mind to possible onlookers, brushed Cherokee's robe out of the way and checked the back of her leg where there was indeed under the tights, a horrible, long cut of some sort. She stood up abruptly with no words to form in her mouth.

"We need to get you to Donovan, right now," said Kim.


	33. Transformation

Chapter 33

Kim no longer cared that class would be starting in just a few minutes. She barreled into Donovan's classroom, Cherokee on her trail, struggling to keep up. Donovan turned around, surprised to see first year Slytherins in his classroom first thing in the morning.

"Good morning Kim," he said. "What's all the rush about?"

Kim, panting did her best to explain what had happened. Donovan's face went from smiling to placid to ghost pale. He pushed together some of the desks and had Cherokee lie down and then produced to lock the door of the classroom. Cherokee looked oddly stoic but maybe that was just her nature. Donovan had her roll up her tights to the knee and examined the cut.

"This might hurt a bit," he said producing his wand. "Sangre Extractus," he muttered.

Cherokee's cut began to glow and a thin red substance peeled off of the cut and was guided into a small glass phial which Donovan pocketed.

"I'm going to run this down to the potions classroom," he said. "It may not be an actual bite. You two can run to class I'll find you later."

Cherokee inhaled shakily and dismounted the desks. Then she and Kim started heading to herbology.

"You don't remember do you," said Kim. "If it was a bite or not."

Cherokee shook her head. "I was just trying to get away, it all happened in a blur. Just a bunch of teeth and claws coming at me." There was a pause. "Kim what is it like?" she asked.

"The transformations?" Kim said. "Torture, but what's even worse is having to live with it every day. Even when your human, people don't treat you the same, they look at you differently and stuff like that. I'll most likely never get a stable job because as soon as people find out what I become only 12 times a year they'll want me gone. I wouldn't wish this upon my greatest enemy."

Cherokee didn't say another word until they made it to herbology. They spotted Diamond and Leisel across the room but didn't sit with them. Instead, the two girls sat down next to Grey who was wearing a green bowtie with his uniform.

"Have you guys seen the latest Althenia magazine?" Grey asked about halfway through the lesson.

Cherokee and Kim were obviously not in the mood to talk fashion.

"No," Cherokee said coldly and went back to jogging her leg underneath the table.

"We haven't," said Kim in a softer tone. "What's in it?"

Grey raised an eyebrow. "Well there's this big scandal going with the Althenian Princesses dad, you know the rich guy. His name is Marcus Waters and he's been spotted in Azkaban again."

"Why? Was he arrested?" asked Kim.

"No, they just found him there," said Grey. "People think maybe he's trying to break someone out of prison."

Just then the classroom got quiet as Donovan entered and handed Professor Longbottom a letter. The professor then proceeded to come over to Cherokee and handed her the note. All three girls flew over to her seat before anyone could stop them.

"Open it," said Liesel impatiently.

Cherokee's hands were trembling but her face remained as placid as ever.

"I should have just left here there," she muttered angrily. "I should have left that horrible girl down there to die."

Before even opening the letter, Cherokee stood up abruptly and stormed out of the greenhouse without even asking permission. The other three girls stood there, unknowing what to do other than to take their seats again and wait. With all the nervous energy bouncing around, Kim couldn't take the waiting any longer. She raised her hand and excused herself to use to toilet.

It wasn't hard to find Cherokee. She was sitting in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, stirring the animagus potion, crying. Kim ran to her side, her heart already in her stomach.

"What did it say?" she asked, already fearing the answer.

Cherokee had no words. She handed Kim the letter and Kim had to read with her own eyes. It was written in fast, scribbled handwriting which was unusual for Donovan.

 _Cherokee-_

 _Not infected._

 _From D.U_

Kim let out a huge sigh of relief and hugged her friend. There was suddenly so much to be thankful for. Cherokee was crying happily, not because she was condemned as Kim was. All of a sudden out of the corner of Kim's eye she saw a silvery whisp. At first she thought it was Myrtle but a second later she recognized it as Cherokee's stag patronus.

"Cherokee did you see that?" Kim asked, breaking the silence for a moment.

As soon as Cherokee looking in the direction Kim was inferring, the stag disappeared.

"Nevermind," she said in reply to Cherokee's inquisitory looks.

Just then the potion beside them began to splutter and shimmer. Cherokee and Kim gathered quickly around it.

"I think it's done," Cherokee said excitedly as she gave it one last stir.

"We should wait for the others," said Kim, looking apprehensively at the shimmering liquid.

They waited until after school that day to head back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Diamond and Leisel hovered excitedly around the pot while Cherokee went over the transfiguration charm with them one last time, for about the millionth time. Kim was a little nervous for her friends. She was a little relieved she didn't actually have to take the potion herself but would also feel extremely guilty if this was a fail.

"Ready guys?" said Cherokee, as she poured a glass for Diamond and Leisel.

"You guys really don't have to do this," said Kim. "I mean I know you all want to keep my company and stuff but it's really okay if you want to back out now."

"Are you crazy?" said Diamond. "Of course we're going through with this. We're your best friends."

"To Kim," said Cherokee, raising her glass.

"To Kim," chimed the other too.

Kim watched as they each downed the liquid and quickly produced their wands. As they murmured a long incantation, red stripes began to appear in the air around them. They wove around the girls as the chant got slower and slower. At first Kim thought this was suppose to happen but then realized something awful was happening. As the red wisps began to fade, her friends grew silent and their bodies froze. Kim panicked and ran over to them and touched their stiff wrists. They were ice cold.

Kim fled from the bathroom and ran as fast her legs would carry her up to Donovan's office where he wasn't there. With panic coursing through her veins, Kim almost didn't notice the big, gift wrapped box on his desk. Something odd struck her as she gazed upon the box. A couple seconds later she didn't even remember approaching it. It was something from deep inside her that made her reach for the ribbon and unwrap it. Inside was a small book that looked like it had been stabbed through the center with some sort of sword.

"Kim watch out!" yelled a voice.

It was Grey, Kim's pale friend. She hadn't even noticed him when he came into the room. Just then there was a crash and the third story window blew apart as something flew in from outside. Before Kim could realize what was happening, Lilith, Grey's sister was on top of her, trying to pin her down to the floor.


	34. Murky Waters

Author's Note: Alright big chapter, here it goes...

Chapter 34

"Lilith don't!" Pleaded Grey. "Not her. Not again."

Lilith screamed and scrambled to her feet, tearing straight for her brother. Kim instinctively grabbed the nearest idem, the ruined journal on Donovan's desk and what happened next was unexplainable.

One second, Kim was ready to hit Lilith with a book, the next she was someplace else. Her feet his hard stone ground and her body temperature immediately dropped 20 degrees. Suddenly she was in a grey, dimly lit corridor and felt oddly depressed just looking at the floor ahead. Through a tiny window, the sky was completely dark even though a second ago it had been daytime. She had been searching for Donovan to help her friends who were still frozen in the girl's bathroom. Now suddenly she was in a new place, alone and scared.

There was a terrified scream from behind her and Kim moved towards it.

"No please," begged the voice. "Please don't!"

Kim pulled out the wand and illuminated the tip. Immediately she regretted this choice. She saw a woman inside a cell looking ragged and terrified. Over her stood a man in an an expensive suit holding a small syringe. With a tug, Kim recognized the man as Marcus Waters, the father of the Althenian Princesses. All of a sudden it became all too clear where Kim was. Somehow she'd traveled from Hogwarts all the way to Azkaban in the blink of an eye.

"Who's there," said Waters. Dropping his hold of the woman's arm and letting her scramble away. He took out his own wand and so Kim's face showed up in the dark. "A little girl?" he laughed. "Did you steal my portkey?" he asked. "That was meant for somebody else you meddling fool," Waters suddenly snapped.

"What are you doing?" Kim asked, trying to sound brave but her voice quivered.

Water's grinned and his perfect smile flashed in the wand light.

"See this?" he said and stepped through the bars towards Kim with the syringe. "Lycanueza, turns people into werewolves," he explained.

Kim swallowed hard. This guy was nuts.

"Why would you want to do that?" she asked. "Turn people into werewolves I mean."

Marcus Waters laughed and threw back his head.

"Why wouldn't I want more people to be like me?" he asked. "Yes, for years I've lived as a Lycanthrope. My brother was one as well, until the dementor's killed him earlier last year."

Kim's memory rested on Lycaon. There was no way...

"It isn't fair how society treats people like me," Waters continued as he advanced forward and Kim slowly backed away. "Privileged little girls like you probably grew up in fear of me," he said. "Well now I'm going to give you a chance to join me on this quest to infect the world. After all, if everyone is the same, there's no reason to shun us or mistreat us or hurt us. I grew tired of only infecting those when I couldn't control myself. Now with this," he waved the syringe. "I can be a little more precise."

With that he bolted towards Kim who ran away as fast as she could but the needly got dangerously close to her neck. Before he could make another attempt there was another sound and someone else appeared in the hallway. Marcus Waters grinned and turned, letting his light fall upon the figure.

"Ah, dear professor, I'm so glad you could join us," he said and with shock, Kim recognized Professor Alexandria.

"What are you doing with a student Marcus," the headmistress said coldly.

"Only a little experiment," said Waters. "Would you like to volunteer to go first? I know

how much you just love my kind."

"You vile, disgusting monster!" Alexandria exclaimed. "I'd rather die than be like you."

"Oh well then of course you may go first," he said and advanced towards Kim's professor in a threatening manner.

Professor Alexandria pulled out her wand but Marcus Waters was too quick.

"Expelliarmus," he yelled and Professor Alexandria's wand flew out of her hand with such force that Kim didn't hear it hit the floor for a whole two seconds.

"Don't touch me!" Professor Alexandria exclaimed as Waters grabbed her by the neck.

"Contrary to popular belief," he said as he sized up the needle. "Touching you with my bare hands does nothing to spread the disease." He gave the needle a little test. "But this does," he said and drove the needle into the headmistresses neck.

Kim ran, faster than she'd ever run before and didn't look back. She heard heavy footsteps behind her and knew Waters was still on her trail.

"I'm not done with you little girl," Waters said as she fled down the corridors. "There's plenty more where that came from."

Kim needed to find the book where she'd dropped it but where was it? She'd let it fall to the floor but it was too dark to see anything. Another corner and she was back where she started with Professor Alexandria slumped against the wall, passed out. This maze was hopeless. Suddenly Kim began to feel very cold and unimaginably sad. The only thing that could make this situation even worse were if there were dementors. Panicking, Kim pulled out her wand.

"Expecto Patronum!" she yelled but nothing happened.

"Expecto Patronum!" she yelled again but was again greeted with darkness.

The dementors were closing in now and Waters was not far behind.

"Expecto Patronum!" she yelled one last time and an enormous silvery creature appeared out of nowhere. It was a great phoenix that soared through the air, pushing the dementors back with such force, they flew down the hallway. Kim was confused until she saw Donovan standing at the end of the hallway, looking as firm and reassuring as ever, his wand still pointing at where the Phoenix had appeared.

All of a sudden, Kim felt a sharp pain in her neck and she crumpled to her feet. Waters had come up behind her while she'd been distracted and hit her with the werewolf disease. She didn't really know what was suppose to happen, if she was suppose to fall down like Professor Alexandria but that didn't happen. Instead, Kim felt something inside of her grow stronger and she tackled Waters with her bare hands like an animal would.

"What?" screamed Waters, confused.

Kim didn't know how she'd suddenly become so strong that somehow she, a 90 pound eleven year old threw a grown man against the wall and felt like ripping him apart with her teeth. Thankfully Donovan intervened before Kim could attempt doing something so gory with her trimmed fingernails and human teeth.

"Stop it," he said grabbing Kim and separating her from Waters. "Just calm down."

Kim couldn't calm down. A hundred doses of adrenaline were pumping through her veins and she just wanted to tear everything apart. It was like the mind of the wolf was merging with her own. Her newly alert senses noticed what was happening a second too late as she registered Waters' hand reaching into his coat pocket.

"Donovan run!" she screamed.

But it was too late. Marcus Waters jammed the freshly loaded needle into Donovan's leg and he fell to his knees before Kim's eyes.


	35. All Tied Up

Author's Note: Kim's story is kind of wrapping up, I'm realizing. Would anyone read a sequel about her second year if I wrote one?

Chapter 35: All Tied Up

Kim ran to Donovan's side unable to believe what she had just witnessed.

"You're like me, aren't you?" said Waters as he circled around Kim and her uncle. "I like that. I underestimated you. Of course the extra Lycanueza pumping through your veins right now will subside soon. I'm surprised it didn't transform you completely."

Kim wasn't listening to anything the crazy man was saying all she could hear was the blood pumping in her ears and the horrible notion that Donovan might become like her. She wished with all the world she could take back what had just happened but it was too late. The needle had already pierced his skin.

"You see," said Waters. "The thing is. I don't like tame pups like you. You cling hold too tightly to the human world. It just won't do for the new order. So little girl, if I can't convert you, I'm going to have to kill you."

Kim heard that last part. She whipped out her wand and stumbled backwards, dragging Donovan's body along with her. Waters however didn't draw his wand. Instead he pulled out one last syringe and inserted it in his own neck.

"You don't need wolfsbane potion to transform and remain in your mind like this," he said and pushed the trigger.

Kim didn't like the transformation when it happened to her. It was almost as painful to watch someone else go through it. Water's million galleon suit shredded into nothing as a wolf, bigger than Kim had ever seen emerged. Another sense of being took over Kim's senses, making her want to fight when she's rather scream and back away. It was insane, her trying to take on an overgrown werewolf in wolf form, but she would have to try.

"Petrificus totalus," she said and her wand shot out grey sparks.

The wolf made a horrible noise that might have been laughter.

The wolf lunged at Kim but before his claws reached her face, Donovan was standing again, his entire body acting as a shield, glowing with silvery wisps. Kim stumbled backwards, unable to comprehend what was happening. Her uncle had just sprouted glowing fiery wings before her very eyes. Waters himself took a few steps back in fear and obviously the potion was wearing off because his head had become so human like, it could talk, however rhaspy it was.

"What are you?" he said and foam spit from his caving mouth.

With the flap of a fiery wing, a chain sprang from nowhere and wrapped itself around Water's wriggling form.

"I wouldn't mess with my blood," said Donovan stepping forward as Waters tried to sink into the shadows but there were none. "I'm immune to werewolf bites after all," he said, taking another stride forward.

Kim looked on with wonder and awe as Donovan traced down the hall with his fiery wings and illuminated the darkness and gloom. There, Kim saw it, the journal she'd picked up when she'd appeared there. She was tempted to run over and grab it, but didn't want to risk leaving Uncle Donovan behind.

"You're blood," said Waters shakily. "I was correct in assuming it was his?"

"Indeed," said Donovan wearily. "I'm the true heir to Merlin the Great."  
Kim couldn't help it. Her jaw dropped. Donovan was the one they were after. But how was that even possible?

"The son of Merlin," said Waters. "How precious your blood is indeed."

Waters's body began to morph further back into his human form and with that Donovan sealed another chain around the victim's mouth. Kim looked at the portkey again from across the hall.

"Go," said Donovan to Kim. "I'll meet you back at Hogwarts."

Kim backed away from Donovan's glowing form and reached for the book. Just before she grabbed it, Donovan stopped her.

"You were brave," he said. "I'm proud you know."

Kim managed a smile but she was just about done with the whole insane werewolves, being stabbed with a syringe and glowing angel. All she wanted was to get back to things being normal, or at least as normal as they should be. Kim reached for the journal but just then came a horrible cry. As Azkaban prison began to disappear in a flash of light, Kim caught one last look at Donovan as Marcus Water's, the werewolf lunged forward.

As Kim's feet hit the solid ground in Donovan's office. It took three seconds for her head to stop spinning before she took off immediately in the direction of help. Kim arrived at Professor Silva's office, panting and out of breath. She knocked but she heard no reply so she burst in. Professor Silva was sitting at her desk, grading papers and stood when Kim came in. She looked a little offended Kim hadn't waited before entering.

"Donovan..." Kim panted. "He's at Azkaban... Not in Azkaban... But Marcus Waters..."

Professor Silva picked up her long, graceful robes and quickly shut the door behind Kim.

"Have a seat," she said, but her voice sounded slightly more strained than usual.

"Donovan'sbeingattackedbyawerewolf," said Kim all at once and had to repeat herself at a slower pace. "There's a portkey in his office," Kim said. "If we go now there still might be time to save him."

Professor Silva didn't meet Kim's eye, instead she kept quietly rummaging through her desk.

"I'm sure he will be fine," she said quietly.

Kim couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"But you're his girlfriend arn't you?" she said. "Don't you want to make sure he's okay?"

Professor Silva's young and pretty face seemed strained and her lips were thinned into a line, like she was trying very hard not to scream at that moment.

"I'm sure he's fine," she said again.

Kim realized she was wasting her time. She got up to leave but suddenly vines sprang up from the chair and held her in place. Professor Silva flinched as everything seemed to fall into place.

"You're the one who let Lycaon and Rhea Silvia into the castle that night," said Kim, her eyes growing wide. "You're working for them, you're on their side."

Professor Silva kept her head down and talked in a very quiet whisper. "Kim you don't understand-"

"Don't understand?" Kim yelled. "You're the worst potions professor I've ever heard of. Of course you had to be a spy." She struggled against the vines of whatever plant this was which only seemed to make them grip tighter.

"Don't struggle," said Professor Silva quietly. "Just sit still. I'm sure it will be over soon."

Kim disregarded Professor Silva's advice and continued to fight against the bonds as they got tighter and tighter around her body. She screamed and kicked but no one seemed to hear her. Finally there was a knock on the door and Kim thought maybe someone had come to her rescue. With the flick of her wand, Professor Silva sprouted a ray of sunlight from the tip and the plant began to shrivel back underneath the seat just as Donovan himself entered the office.

"Emanuel," he said immediately. "Then spotted Kim."

"Uncle Donovan!" Kim shouted. "Professor Silva tried to-"

"Look for you," Professor Silva interrupted. "Poor Kim seemed to disturbed, she couldn't get the words out to tell me what happened. I'm glad you're okay."

Kim was about to interrupt again but she saw the pleading and desperation in Professor Silva's eyes and faltered.

"It was Waters like we suspected," said Donovan after giving Professor Silva a long embrace. He stepped back suddenly, looking very serious. "Emanuel, I have to tell you something," he said.

Professor Silva looked uncertain but encouraged him to continue.

"I'm the son of Merlin," he said and Professor Silva gasped. "I know I should have told you a long time ago," Donovan said. "Please forgive me?"

Professor Silva caught Kim's eye which again screamed for her to not mess everything up. "Of course I forgive you," she said. "Just tell me what happened."

Donovan took a deep breath.

"First, I owe Kim an explanation," he said, perching on the edge of Professor Silva's desk. "That necklace you're wearing around your neck is a magnet," he said.

Kim reached for the pendant her grandmother had given her, the one that had belonged to the minister of magic. She'd almost forgotten about it.

"It's twin is right here," said Donovan, reaching into his vest pocket and pulling out a nearly identical chain. "Your grandmother gave it to me when I was your age as well. They act as magnets so I can tell when you're really far away from me when the chain starts tugging on my neck. It was a real shock when I suddenly stumbled forward and nearly lost my footing. Of course the only thing I could think of was a portkey so I flew straight up to Professor Alexandria's office. She, at the time had become rather fixated with a little metal bird she'd said was a gift. It took me a moment too late to realize what it was happening so I grabbed onto the sleeve of her robe. This got me thrown off before we landed so I ended up in a different part of Azkaban before finding you," he explained.

"Then how did you become the son of Merlin?" Kim asked.

"I didn't become it," said Donovan. "I was born like that. It's grandmother Alberta's greatest secret. She was briefly married to Merlin the great."

"That's impossible," said Kim. "Merlin lived centuries ago."

Donovan cracked a smile. "Haven't you read _The Once and Future King_?" he asked. "Merlin is and to this day, the only known wizard that can truly live forever. He made a mistake, having kids, but here we are. I doubt your mother even knows. When she decided to act like a muggle, grandmother and I slightly encouraged it because it would dampen her sent, people wouldn't be able to find her as easily. I suspect the reason you were put in Slytherin house so quickly is because you're a descendant of Merlin himself."

"But you're not in Slytherin," said Kim, still unable to believe the whole story.

Donovan shook his head. "I became the first Hogwarts student to switch houses," he said quietly. "I was terrified of the other Slytherins and McGonagall helped me out. Well all of them besides Ema," he said smiling at Professor Silva. "But that's another story," he said.

"So you're not like me?" said Kim, just to clarify. "A werewolf I mean."

Donovan's eyes fell to the floor. "No," he said. "Merlin was also the only known person to be resistant to a werewolf bite. I believe that trait must have skipped your generation."

Kim suddenly sat up straighter, as if remembering something awfully important.

"My friends!" she exclaimed. "Donovan we need to hurry. Tell me what happened to Waters on the way. I need you to come quickly."


	36. Silver Linings

Authors Note: I feel kind of sad now. This is is. This the last chapter of the first book. omg this is kind of depressing. Anyway check back with me for the second book of Kim Infected. I will be making a sequel about Kim's second year at Hogwarts. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who read this entire book. It's actually like 180 google docs pages so I'm really proud of myself for writing all of this. Hope you all read my next book so be on the look out for that!

Chapter 36: Silver Linings

Kim was happy to hear that after the portkey had taken her back, Donovan had managed to throw Waters off of him and the dementors had arrived at that very moment to take him away. With Waters behind bars, Kim was able to relax but she kept thinking about Professor Silva. She still seemed fearful even after Donovan had returned which made Kim wonder if maybe Water's wasn't the one in charge of everything.

When they reached Moaning Myrtle's toilet, Kim stopped in her tracks. On the floor there cauldron was missing and her friends were nowhere to be seen. Even Myrtle wasn't present.

"They were right here," she panted, out of breath.

"Who were?" asked Donovan.

Kim looked around every corner before shaking her head.

"Nevermind," said Kim. "Sorry to make you run all this way for nothing. I've got to check the common room myself."

Kim dashed off and rushed down the stairs into the dungeon where the tunnel opened up and she spilled into the common room.

"Kim," said Cherokee.

Kim whirled around and saw Cherokee, Diamond and Leisel all sitting by the fire, all looking perfectly normal again. She couldn't express her relief enough. Kim gave them all hugs and immediately told them what had happened, because they'd all wondered where she'd disappeared to.

"All I remember is becoming really stiff," Diamond said. "Then I just kind of fell into this trance," she explained.

"It didn't work," Liesel said, as if that hadn't been made clear already.

"It's alright," Kim said. "I'm just glad you guys are okay."

"Oh my goodness Kim," said a voice.

Kim turned around and saw Grey coming towards her with a panicked look on his face. He saw the other three girls and Kim realized he wanted to speak to her alone for a second. Quietly, she excused herself from the group.

"I am so sorry about Lilith," he said. "She's... difficult," was all he managed.

Kim remembered the terrifying moment when Lilith had come crashing through the window and had tackled her point blank.

"What did you mean, not again?" Kim asked, remembering Grey's last words before she took hold of the portkey and disappeared.

Grey looked embarrassed and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Just forget about it okay. Where did that portkey take you anyway?" he asked.

"Forget about it I guess," Kim said with a smile and enjoyed Grey's defeated look. There was something he was hiding, Kim was sure about that now. She just couldn't figure out what.

Diamond, Cherokee and Liesel decided not to try another animagus attempt at least not for the rest of the year which Kim was grateful for. As much as she appreciated her friends for wanting to be with her on the full moon, she didn't want them risking their lives again taking a mystery potion. Anything could have happened, she was just grateful the disastrous results had only been temporary.

There was still one matter of unresolved business. Ever since rumors had spread about Kim landing in Azkaban the stories had stretched and contorted themselves into all sorts of things but one factor seemed to remain a mystery to everyone but Kim and her three closest friends; what had happened to Professor Alexandria? Donovan reported that he stayed behind long enough to see her wake up and then she'd run off, screaming down the hallways and was never seen again. Kim felt cruel for thinking so but she almost thought that maybe she had it coming. Now at least her maybe old professor would stop impeaching werewolves now that she was one.

As the months sped by and midterms grew into finals, Kim's first year of Hogwarts held yet one more surprise for her on the last day of the year. Kim and her friend stood outside on a windy morning with their things packed up and tears streaming down their eyes from saying goodbye to the other girls and teachers when in the distance they spotted Donovan and Professor Silva standing together. Kim had decided to withhold the information about Professor Silva's identity as a spy from the other girls because she wasn't yet sure what to do with it so of course Cherokee made them get closer to listen in. Before they'd taken so much as a step Cherokee yanked on Kim's arm and dramatically fell and caught herself.

"Oh my god," she said pointing at Donovan's figure in the distance.

He was kneeling, Kim realized. She'd missed her chance to tell him. Kim felt her insides burn as she realized Donovan was proposing to an imposter. Something from deep inside her had to hold her from running and breaking the two apart. That part of her sympathized with Professor Silva because maybe she was a good person, just under some kind of influence. Or maybe she's not, said a darker voice inside Kim.

Later Kim met up with Donovan and offered him congratulations though she had to bite her tongue. She couldn't go and ruin his happiness now. Donovan didn't look surprised that she'd seen him with Professor Silva and laughed about how nervous he'd been and rambled about other things Kim could only cringe at.

"You can still live with me this summer, you know," he said.

Kim smiled and shook her head. "It's okay," she said. "Diamond's parents offered to let me stay at their house instead."  
That was only partially a lie because Diamond said her parents were hardly ever around but she couldn't force Donovan to look after her after he'd just gotten engaged.

"I'm going to miss you," Donovan said, giving Kim a hug. "Be safe, you know with you-"

"Yes I know," Kim said finishing his sentence. He'd meant transformations.

As Kim boarded the train for King's Cross Station, she and the other children stuck their heads out of the window and waved goodbye to the castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Kim waved she knew it wasn't goodbye, it was just so long. A few short months and she'd be back in school. Kim almost laughed when she said that out loud to the others. If this was just another normal year of muggle school she would be devastated to see summer fly by so quickly. Bellona cooed on her perch inside the cabin and Kim stroked her head affectionately.

"Promise to write," Liesel said as the train neared the station.

"I promise," said Cherokee. "Everyday."

"We'll see about that," Diamond laughed. "Kim and I will write too. Right Kim?"

Kim agreed.

Finally Kim's stomach took a downward plunge as the tracks began to slow and she could hear the screeching of metal against metal. Platform 9 and 3/4 came into view, stocked with parents ready to see their children after a long few months. It was really happening, she wasn't at Hogwarts anymore. Kim half expected to pick out her parents in the crowd but no such luck. Her heart fell even more as she had to hug Cherokee and Leisel goodbye and she waved to Grey as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Happy summer Kim," said Diamond.

"Happy summer Diamond," said Kim.

Together they grabbed their carts and pushed their way through the crowds of people.


	37. Sequel Information

Author's Note: Hey everyone. Thank you all again for reading Kim Infected. I wanted to let you all know that the cover for the sequel has just been posted. The book is called Kim Concealed please go follow it. I'm super exited about writing it!


	38. Re-Write Information

Hey everyone! Long time no post! Sorry about that I'm still battling carpol tunnel sydrome but GOOD NEWS! I have been able to write. I've decided I wanted to rewrite this book. A couple things have changed but you can find it under the title, 'Natalie Infected'. Hope you all check it out! :)


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